Sir Utakata, We Must Both Live
by Waifine
Summary: Hotaru seeks out Naruto after discovering her master's fate. Kakashi is sent forth to learn more about the young man and about his master's experiments. Can Konoha save Utakata from Akatsuki? .Read here the conclusion to the filler arc.
1. Crying Green Eyes

**Chapter 1**

**Crying Green Eyes**

_Raaaameeen~ _

It was said about Uzumaki Naruto that if he had been a man dying of thirst in the middle of the Suna desert, and if he had been offered the choice between a glass of water or a cup of ramen… he would have taken the ramen. Happily, oh-so happily, he tucked into the steaming bowl with his chopsticks.

He ate, and ate, and ate, and ate till he was so full and so sluggish his head was muddled and his stomach aching. Then, lazily as could be, he slurped a final noodle into his mouth, allowing its end to dangle just beyond his lips, and fell to thinking.

Naruto was a boy of sixteen and a half years, with blond hair that struck up like straw, eyes that were shockingly clear and shockingly blue, and who had three whisker-like scars crossing each cheek. He was also a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. A very content, ramen-stuffed ninja, as the case might be at the moment.

He had just returned from a mission the day before and was now having his _post-mission ramen,_ which was different from pre-mission ramen, post-training, pre-training or pre-bed ramen… which, in turn, was different from supper ramen! And then there was breakfast ramen, and… well, yes. What _made _post-mission ramen so different from all the other ramens was that it was the ramen over which he brooded over the mission he had just completed. He had been particularly eager for this post-mission ramen when he'd gotten back to Konoha because this latest mission had been a particularly exciting one, and well worth the brooding.

Most of his missions nowadays were either life tearing, soul shredding, emotionally unsound or just plan useless (aka centering around the notorious group _Akatsuki,_ which would have liked nothing more than to tear out Naruto's innards, Uchiha Sasuke, his defector best friend, or clean-up duty around the city…Yeah). This mission, however, well… it had been awesome.

It had basically centered around this thing called _The Forbidden Jutsu_. A jutsu was a ninja technique. Now, there were plenty of jutsus in the ninja world. Likewise, there were plenty of forbidden jutsus which were too dangerous to use. However, this was _**The **__Forbidden Jutsu._ Special? It could wipe out an entire city in the blink of an eye.

And it had happened to be implanted between the shoulder blades of a girl named Hotaru, whose grandfather had been the leader of the Tsuchigumo clan, En no Gyōja, who had created the thing _and _implanted into her body for safe keeping. Hotaru had been a willing vessel for years, wishing to someday restore the Tsuchigumo Clan to its former glory. However, carrying something like _**The **__Forbidden Jutsu _ingrained in her back was just asking for trouble, which it exactly what it, and Hotaru, and Utakata, got.

Konoha had a pact with the old Tsuchigumo Clan, so when the latter got attacked and Hotaru and her precious jutsu were targeted, Naruto and the rest of his team had been called off of the umpteenth Sasuke-Rescue mission and had gone to lend a hand. And that was where the fun had started~

When they got there Naruto saw a man attacking Hotaru. Well, what he had taken for an attack had actually been something that he later secretly dubbed as Lovers' Spat 101. That was when he had met Utakata.

Utakata was something of an enigma to Naruto, even now. He was a guy, about the same age as Naruto, and a missing nin from the Hidden Mist Village, as Sasuke was from the Hidden Leaf. His crime? He had killed his master. …Naruto still felt there was some sort of misunderstanding there, though he had never pried. Whatever it had been, Utakata felt severely uncomfortable being considered a master and teacher himself. Well, he_ was_ a missing nin. There wasn't much of a problem as no one in their right mind would take a missing nin for a master. _Slight_ problem? Hotaru was as head over heels for him as he was for her. _Neither _of them was in their right minds and Utakata didn't have much of a mind to begin with.

Naruto smirked a knowing smirk.

The insignificant bastard who had orchestrated the original attack on Hotaru's home and the attempted capture of the Forbidden Jutsu was apprehended and accordingly beaten-the-shit-there-out-of by the hero now eating ramen; Utakata had somehow not only managed to stop the Jutsu from activating, but had somehow _swallowed_ it (as Naruto had thought: an enigma) and had also finally come to terms with the fact that he was probably the best master Hotaru could possibly hope for (being able, as he was, to _swallow _freakin' Forbidden Jutsus, or however he made that thing disappear).

Naruto had last left them at the gates to Hotaru's village, Utakata and Hotaru going one was, he himself and his team, returning to their own village. _Damn it was satisfying~ _

With a contented slurp Naruto dragged the last noodle between his lips and into his mouth and-

"Naruto!"

-swallowed?

"Naruto, come quickly! Something terrible's happened!"

Naruto pushed his cash across the counter, and then slowly turned around in his seat, his mouth suddenly very dry. Sakura was running towards him, looking pale as death.

Sakura had pink hair, a fist of steal and a brilliant mind for medical ninjutsu. She was also Naruto's one true love. _The girl just wouldn't come to terms with how __**amazing **__that fact was._ …She was also apprentice to the Fifth Hokage, the leader of the enter Hidden Leaf Village, one of five great ninja villages in the world. What did that entail precisely? That very, very little could make Haruno Sakura's face twist with the raw distress that was now contorting her features.

_Shit. _Something was very, very wrong. Grabbing his orange windbreaker from the next seat, Naruto shot out of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar to greet her. Seeing that he was coming Sakura turned in mid stride and began running back the way she'd come, to the Hokage's office, willing Naruto to catch up to her as they went. He did.

"Wha-?"

"It's Hotaru."

It seemed surreal. For a moment all the sound seemed to go out of the world. _Hotaru? _The ramen sank in his stomach. _But why? What could have…? _He bit his lip._ Damnit Utakata, you were supposed to take her of her! _Had he abandoned her?_ You're her master, damnit!_

**...**

He had seen that look of despair before. He had seen those tear-stained eyes, those dirt smeared knees… Damn. It was like a really bad practical joke. Entering the Hokage's office, and seeing Hotaru spasm at the sound of the door opening, and then turn to face him… it was like a really bad practical joke.

…It was like seeing Sakura again, the day after Sasuke had left the village… the day after her heart had broken into a million pieces for Naruto to pick up and try to patch together again. Somehow.

_Damn. _

"N-Naruto-san," Hotaru hiccupped. He could have sworn that he didn't see her cross the room. Suddenly, she was just _there,_ clutching at his black t-shirt, sobbing into his chest – a sandy-blond mess of tattered hair, bespeckled with twigs and leaves and dirt. When they had first met Hotaru had behaved like the stuck-up, proud, young heiress that she had been brought up to be, even though she was only just fourteen. However, in the week of their adventures she and Naruto had gone through a lot together. They had become friends. And seeing her like this…

Naruto felt his blood boil and he pulled her into a tight hug. Naruto had never been good with girls. His campaign for Sakura, which had begun in their Academy days, was proof of that. But no one was better at recognizing sheer and raw abandonment. "Damnit Hotaru, what did he do?"

"H-He was taken!" she sobbed.

Naruto wasn't the sharpest kunai. He recognized that. But that just didn't make sense. "Eh?"

"He was taken!" she screeched, and Naruto was no longer hugging Hotaru. He was holding her up.

"Lady Hotaru has shown us this," Naruto looked over her head, past Sakura, Sai, Capitans Yamato and Kakashi, and Shizune, to the Hokage's desk at the end of the office. There sat a very pretty blond woman who looked about twenty-five,_ was_ about fifty-five, and had the medical ninjutsu to make it all look natural. Apart from her boobs. Those were very, very unnaturally huge. Sakura's mentor and the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf: the Slug Princess Tsunade. In her hand she held a twisted tube of metal which, after a few moments of scrutiny, Naruto recognized as what had once been Utakata's Bubble Blower.

He slid to the floor with Hotaru, still bracing her. "…No way."

"Naruto-"

"That thing can withstand a solid hit from a kunai! It's his best weapon, and can-"

"Naruto!" the Fifth cut him off. "Lady Hotaru has already explained all this to us."

Naruto looked back down at the mess in his arms. She had stopped crying, but had started shaking instead. Very carefully he took her by her upper arms, pulled her away from him, and looked into her eyes.

Crying green eyes.

Just like Sakura's.

_Damn. _

"Hotaru, what happened?" She hiccupped, shaking her head._ "Hotaru,"_ Naruto he said pointedly, not looking away from her, "what happened?" he said more gently, rubbing up and down her arms comfortingly.

She swallowed.

"After you left us, Sir Utakata and I took a rather unorthodox road out of the village. There wasn't really a specific path, and it wasn't a road. It was just a field by the Fort."

"Then why did you-" Naruto raised a hand to silence Sakura.

Hotaru swallowed again. She was on the verge of tears once more. "We had decided to take that rout... as a final farewell." She kept her eyes locked on Naruto. "Y-you see… it was through the field in which we," swallow, _"…we first met."_ She gagged on her words, curled up against Naruto's shoulder, and broke down again.

"We should take her to a couch. Get her some tea. She'll be more comfortable."

Naruto shook his head at Sakura over Hotaru's shoulder. "Let it out." It wasn't a request. It was a command. He pressed his hand against the back of Hotaru's head. "Let it all out, now. You're with friends, Hotaru." His voice had taken on that undertone of power. It was what made him what he was – the last stand and final strength of the Hidden Leaf. "The sooner you say it all, the sooner we can help Utakata. So say it. Force it out."

"Naruto, I don't think that, given her condition-"

"We went to that field!" she practically shouted into Naruto's shoulder. He winced a little. She stared past him at the blank wall, clutching onto him, shaking. "I-it was filled with yellow flowers! The field. And- and he told me to wait there! He told me he was going to go find the ANBU of the Mist, and tell them, and-and-and-" Naruto closed his eyes. That voice in his ear. He couldn't stand it. Her words caressed his earlobe in a quiet, broken, rasp of a whisper, _"and ask for permission to be my master, and train me…"_

Naruto took a steadying breath. He needed his voice to be calm. He needed to be strong for Hotaru. "And then?"

She was silent.

"And _then,_ Hotaru?"

"…The flowers were so pretty…" she muttered, almost as if she was ashamed. _Ashamed of what? _"And I collapsed in them, and laughed, and had a wonderful time, and the petals swirled overhead in the wind." He felt her grip tighten on his shirt. "And then they weren't petals anymore. They were bubbles." Naruto's throat tightened. "So beautiful and so wonderful," he couldn't tell if it was her heart or her voice tearing her in two at this point. Both seemed rubbed raw. "And one fell into my hand, and I saw my reflection in it, and it was a- a rainbow, and the flowers smelled so _wonderful!"_

_That's right, Hotaru, let the poison seep out. Let it out. _

"And I fell _asleep!"_ Another howl. Another breakdown. Another recovery. "…When I woke up, it was dark." She was speaking slowly again. "I was scared. And alone. I… I went to look for him." She was shaking like a leaf in the wind. He couldn't have held her any more tightly if he'd tried. "I finally found a… a bloodied ANBU mask."

Naruto swallowed. _Had Utakata…?_

"And a little ways beyond," the terror in her voice was indescribable, "a crater. A terrible, ugly crater." She gulped. "That's where I found Utakata's Bubble Blower." There was silence for a moment, and then, "…Something caused that huge of an explosion_…and I didn't hear it!"_ Her voice and her body contorted as one.

"Hotaru!" Naruto shook her. _Ah, so that's what you're ashamed of. You let him leave. You didn't stop him. …Damn._

"I was sleeping while he was attacked! I let them take him!"

"Hotaru!" _Damn._ _It's all too familiar._

"It's been haunting me ever since! Those bubbles that fell all around me,_ they were like pearls! Pearls of tears __**and I watched them and fell asleep to them!"**_ she croaked out. She was positively hysterical.

"Are you Utakata's student or aren't you!" Naruto tore her from her contorted position, and face her against him. She spluttered. "Well?" He shouted, shaking her shoulders. He hated this. He knew too well what it was to lose someone irreplaceable. And he knew too well what it was to live with regret. With the _shame._ "Where is that strength I know you've got?! The strength with which you bore The Forbidden Jutsu all those years!?"

Three and a half years ago, when his best friend Uchiha Sasuke had turned his back on the village, he, Naruto, and a handful of his comrades, had set out after the Uchiha. However, Sasuke had not been alone. He had had _guides,_ so to speak, to lead him off the path. Ninjas from the Hidden Sound. One by one Naruto's comrades faced off against Sasuke's guides. One by one they defeated the guides. In the end only Naruto and Sasuke were left. In the end, only Naruto had not been strong enough to stop his adversary. His best friend.

He was tired of the tears.

With one swift heave he pulled Hotaru back on her feet. "Stand." He let go of her. She teetered. And stood. "Now," Naruto said, bringing his windbreaker up to Hotaru's eyes and rubbing them clean non too gently. "You have to tell us everything. Everything you know about Utakata. Past, Present, and why you're saying that he was _taken,_ and not _killed?"_

"Naruto!" that was Kakashi-sensei. He could piss off.

Hotaru licked her lips. "There wasn't a body."

"That doesn't mean much." Naruto shot back, crossing his arms. "We've met ANBU from the Hidden Mist before. Or rather, ANBU posers." He remembered Haku, a young boy he'd met on his first A-class mission. "They have professionals who specialize in the destruction of missing nins' bodies – Hunter-nins." It almost seemed ruthless for Naruto. Almost. The fact was that he wanted her to fight back. The fact was that he trusted her to counter him.

"But they left his Bubble Blower," Hotaru answered without missing a beat. Clearly she had thought this over already. Continuously. Clearly the thought that Utakata had been taken, not killed, had become her last and most desperate hope.

Naruto nodded. "Point. Now... what do you know about Utakata?"

Another moment of silence. Hotaru bit her lower lip.

"Hotaru-"

"-I know!" she cut him off. "…I know…" She broke eye contact, and looked to the vacant wall. "It's just…. Knowing his life as I now do… these were the first, the _only _secrets that we've shared." She smiled at last. A bitter, sad smile. "I had hoped, the first of many secrets. I was honored… when he chose to confide in me. Surly you must know," their eyes met again, "the extraordinary honor it is… to be given a secret to cherish by someone not open to secrecy."

Hotaru's smile mirrored on Naruto's face. Oh yes. He knew, remembered, all too well.

**...**

"Oy, idiot."

"What?"

"…You actually answered to the name of 'Idiot'."

"…_FUCK YOU, SASUKE!"_

"Hm."

"…"

"Oy, idiot."

"_WHAT!"_

"…"

"…fuck."

"Come with me, I'm going to show you something."

"What am I, your pet? The hell I'm going with you!"

"Fine then, I'll just leave now."

"…Oy, oy, oy! Wait up for me!"

The two twelve and a half year old boys walked in silence for a few minutes. "So where are we going?"

"The dock."

"The… dock…?" Naruto, who was usually very slow, cocked his head to the side as they walked. "The one on which you sat all the time when we were kids?" He could see the surprise on Sasuke's face. Bastard shouldn't have been surprised. After all, if anything, Naruto had been the _only _one to notice that the dock had been Sasuke's regular haunt after…. after the slaughter of his entire clan.

Naruto suspected that for that which Sasuke had used the dock, he himself had used the swings in the Academy – a place whereupon to erect a sort of shrine of glumness. Nasty place. Naruto never went near that swing now. He was glad that it had been where he had brooded before. It meant that his sadness had been concentrated. He wasn't reminded of it wherever he went in Konoha. Just that one swing set.

"Why the hell do you wanna go back there?" he asked, looking ahead now.

"Because, when I was a kid, I learned how to make fireballs there," Sasuke said with a smirk, pushing back his black hair. It was a habitual movement. And it was a pointless one. His hair still stuck up as if it was static's best friend.

Naruto didn't need the translation. It was where his _mom or dad_ had taught him how to make fireballs. He smirked himself now. Oh, he got it. Rather than leaving it like Naruto's swing, he wanted to make it into a place like the Forth's Head.

That needed an explanation.

Naruto had never known his parents. But he had had an idol for as long as he could remember: The Fourth Hokage, who had died protecting the village. Behind Konoha there towered a mountain into which the faces of the Hokages had all been carved. It was atop the Forth's Head that Naruto sometimes sat, looking over the entire village for which the hero had died, and wondered if having an idol like the Forth was something like having a father figure.

So that was what Sasuke wanted to turn his dock into.

It was funny, how Sasuke and Naruto never really needed words. They just understood each other. They were in harmony.

Hence, the instant they got to the dock, Naruto conjured up half a dozen Shadow Clones and threw Sasuke headlong into the water.

Ah, the harmony~

**...**

That smile still on his face, Naruto wetted his lips, thinking. He'd carried the bruises from the following fight for weeks. And that was with _his_ recovery rate. "You said something about 'knowing his life as you now do.'" His mouth was a little dry. "You know his life story?"

Hotaru's mouth quirked a little, her voice just as dry as Naruto's, and just as clean of any regret. "…I know his life story."

**...**

"Come in," Hotaru sang in response to the knock on her door. She grinned down at her traveling pack. Everything…. everything was like a dream~ Sir Utakata had banished The Forbidden Jutsu from her back. Sir Utakata had formally taken on the role of her master. Sir Utakata had promised to take her with him on his _travels!~_

"Hotaru."

She spun around. "Sir Utakata!"

There was an awkward pause.

"Ah. Yes." There, on the other side of her room, stood Sir Utakata. He was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she had ever met. He had dark brown hair which fell over one eye,_ just _brushed over his shoulders and looked much too soft and silky to be allowed. He had amber eyes that, quite frankly, put amber to shame. He was over a head taller than she, was lanky, and wore a light blue kimono which he never bothered to fasten properly. However, far more importantly, he was an the most incredible ninja Hotaru knew, and handsom as he was, what she truly valued about him was his great skill, which he had now promised to pass on to her, so that she might one day restore the honor of her clan and-

"Hotaru!" She suddenly realized that he had been trying to get her attention for a few phrases now.

"Yes!" she squeaked, swallowing hard.

Silence.

"I… would like to talk to you." And then, quite suddenly, with one sharp movement, Sir Utakata slid the screen clean shut. She was alone, in her room, with Sir Utakata. _That is no matter. He is my master now. We shall be alone all to time, when he is training me._

Ah… this was going to take a little getting used to.

"Do sit down?" She muttered. He did, and then gestured to the space before him, as though wishing her to sit too. She did.

Silence.

For a few moments Sir Utakata seemed to be having something of a silent debate in his head. He rocked back and forth a little while chewing on the inside of his cheek. "I would like-" he blustered out, and then reconsidered. "I think you ought to… know about me." He nodded in agreement with his word choice. "Hotaru," finally he met her gaze. She gulped. "I need you to know everything about me, not only so that you can consciously make the decision to travel with me, but because, being who I am…_what_ I am… I have my share of enemies and I want for you to know enough about me that you could never learn anything from the mouth of an enemy. I… I want to be the one to tell you everything, in my own way."

"Sir Utakata… are, are you alright?"

He nodded distractedly at her. "Perfectly." Another silence. He licked his lips. Why did she notice that? "During the time that I have lived with you at your estate I did not tell you anything about myself because I felt that I was only here as a temporary resident, and because I party feared you would throw me out if you knew what I was."

"Sir Utakata I!-"

"-I did not want to be thrown out!" They stared at each other. She didn't understand. He had left her all too readily when Naruto and the other Hidden Leaf ninjas had arrived. She did not understand. And yet…. And yet… she wanted to believe she did.

Hotaru nodded. Sir Utakata took a deep, steadying breath. "To cut through everything, first and foremost, I am a Jinchuuriki."

She stared into those amber eyes in silence. "A…a _what?"_

"A Jinchuuriki. You've heard of the nine great beasts, have you not? The Bijuu? Well…I am the host of such a Bijuu. It is sealed in my body as-"

"-I know," Hotaru cut him off, "what a Jinchuuriki is. I just never thought…Sir Utakata?" she looked over him now and, for a moment, tried to find something that related him to the terrible monsters she'd heard of from legend.

Nothing sprung to sight or mind. He was just – if 'just' could ever be applied – Sir Utakata. And anything, everything actually, that was so extraordinary about stemmed, not from any monster, but from him – Sir Utakata. Her master.

He cleared his throat. "I shall continue." Again a silence. Again he seemed to brace himself for his own confession. "I did kill my master. However, now, I believe… I believe I did so unjustly. You see, I thought _he_ was trying to kill _me."_ He pressed his lips together thinly, staring firmly into her eyes as if they were the last anchor he had. "He was…. He was trying to remove the beast from my belly. I don't remember everything now. I think…I turned into the beast, and killed him." Hotaru stared at him, wide eyed. He smiled wryly. "I am not the angel you have made me out to be, but neither am I the devil the Mist Ninjas would have brought back in irons. I tell you everything now, so that you can make the choice here. I know that, out there, in front of Naruto and everyone, you might feel compelled to come with me. We will be saying our farewells to them at the village gate soon. However, here, you can tell me truthfully."

Hotaru fidgeted. She looked around the room. Looked at the clothing she had scattered while packing, and then looked back at Sir Utakata. "Have you ever told anyone else about this?"

"No."

She nodded, looking around again. This time, she did not look back, but was careful to avoid his eyes. "Do you want me to come with you?" She could sense his gaze boring into her at that.

"Yes." A pause. "More than anything."

Her heart leapt up into her throat and she looked at him again. "Y- you could have kept it a secret. It would have insured my traveling with you."

"For how long?" he smirked, a quite sort of defeat coming over his face. She had rejected him now, knowing what he was. "How long until you found out? And then we would be far from here, and you would be scared and would hate me and I would bring you home and on the entire journey back you would hate me and I _could not _deal with-"

"You can be so _stupid,_ Master! Such an absolute _idiot!"_ Hotaru was standing up again. She glared at him and he, his face molded into absolute astonishment, just stared back at her. She'd called him an idiot before, but it had been to his retreating back. Never like this, eye to eye, to his face. Very, very slowly he swallowed.

"I…I just wanted to-"

"I showed you my monster before," she cut him off. "I wanted…I wanted you to know everything about me then," she couldn't fight the blush now. "And I trusted you to accept it and accept me. You were the first person outside the Tsuchigumo Clan to learn of The Forbidden Jutsu's true location, and the only person I ever _really_ wanted to know of it," she was breathing erratically now. She had never actually been _angry _with him before. Upset, frustrated, even hurt by him. But never _angry._ "…was _you!_ And…and even after that you doubted _me?"_

They stared at each other for a span longer. Rather, Utakata looked as if he was ready to melt into the floorboards and Hotaru looked as if she was all too willing to help him on his way. He swallowed. "A-allow me, in that case, to make amends for my inconsideration by teaching you as best I may?" He smiled at her sheepishly. This had been meant to be a solemn confession. It had become a farcical apology.

Hotaru was able to hold his gaze for a moment longer. And then she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "O-oy!" he spluttered, trying to pry her off.

_He's going to teach me! I'm so excited! He's going to __**teach me!**_

"Lady Hotaru, why is this door closed?" Tonbee, her manservant, slid open the door, knowing as he did that Hotaru did not like closed doors inside the mansion. He froze in place.

There was Sir Utakata, who was to be Lady Hotaru's teacher, sprawled on the floor and looking very red in the face. There, on top of him, was Lady Hotaru.

"Ah! Tonbee!"

**...**

Her mouth quirked at the memory. That quickly reminded her that she now had a split lip. There was silence in the office.

Finally, Naruto spoke. "Ukakata's a… he's a…." he swallowed hard, "a Jinchuuriki?" _Just like me._ Why hadn't he seen it before? How else could he have kept up with Naruto's chakra level when they had fought side by side? Had Utakata been aware about him, Naruto? Suddenly something Utakata had said came flooding back into his memory: _"Having too much power only gives rise to suffering. Right, Naruto?"_ He _had _known.

…_Damn!_ He, Naruto, should have _seen _it!

Hotaru nodded.

"Sakura," the Hokage spoke again, "I want you to escort Lady Hotaru to the infirmary. Please, make her comfortable, then report back here."

Sakura bowed. "Yes, Lady Hokage." However, as she approached Hotaru and Naruto, Hotaru again latched onto Naruto's shirt.

"You'll save him, won't you, Naruto? You'll save Sir Utakata." It was amazing how, in midphrase, it even stopped being a question.

Naruto stared down at her. He was the ultimate optimist. Everyone knew that. He was the last one to give up on anything and he was usually the reason it came through. People simply _couldn't _doubt anything that Naruto had taken in hand because it was a hand that simply _wouldn't_ brook failure.

He swallowed. But even he had to wonder about this one. He hadn't even been there when Utakata had been captured.

Captured…

_Damn. I'm slow. _

Akatsuki.

He remembered Gaara, a fellow Jinchuuriki and, aside from Sasuke, the only guy who had every fully understood him. He remembered how he had been taken. Remembered how he had been taken, killed… reborn.

And then there were those green, tear-washed eyes. And a memory…

…

"Naruto…this is the only favor I will ever ask of you…" Sakura had wrapped her arms around herself, as if she would simply fall to pieces if she didn't clutch it all together. "Please… please bring Sasuke-kun back! I couldn't do it… I couldn't stop him. The only person who _can _stop him… who can probably save _Sasuke-kun_ now… is you…Naruto…only you…"

Naruto smiled brokenly, closed his eyes, and looked away from her. "Sakura-chan, you really love Sasuke, huh?" She blanched, and looked up at him. …She recognized what it cost Naruto to acknowledge that fact. "….I know how much pain you're in. I can understand."

There was a long silence, broken only by Sakura's hiccups and murmured nothings, until finally she broke into fresh sobs. "Naruto…Thank you."

Naruto twisted his face into a smirk, jolted his head back to look at her, threw out a thumbs-up, and proclaimed–

…

"Don't worry I'll bring him back for sure! Promise…" his voice caught in his throat, but he _forced_ it out, "Promise of a lifetime!" He held Hotaru tightly.

Sakura's quiet, sharp, intake of breathe was lost on all but Naruto. His hand had shaken then as he'd held up that thumbs-up. There would be no shaking now.

"…Now then," Tsunade said matter-of-factly when the door had closed behind Sakura and Hotaru. "Kakashi!"

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Kakashi-sensei stepped forward. He had been Naruto's teacher and team Capitan since Naruto was twelve. A mop of silver hair that stuck up wildly, a face that brimmed a mask from chin to nose and a forehead protector that sloped over his left eye, Nartuo still didn't really know what the man looked like, and this was four and a half years later.

"You're a smooth talker. I want you to go to the Hidden Mist, explain the situation to them and request them to allow us access to all of the documents concerning Sir Utakata and his master, with specific focus on this project his master was working on concerning the Bijuu. This… _extraction. _Then use Paku to meet up with the rest of Team Kakashi immediately! "

"Yessir." He bowed, then paused, "…Ma'ma," he said, scratching he back of his head, "I'm flattered by your 'smooth talker' complement, but even so, what makes you think they will just fork over a classified Jinchuuriki file to another country?"

Tsunade seemed to wage an inner war with herself. Finally, she sighed, and reached into her desk, pulling out a perfectly ordinary looking scroll. "A trade. You will present this to Terumii Mei." She smirked sourly. "Female Kage to female Kage. She'll understand."

"Is that…" Shizune, Tsunade's secretary blanched at the scroll.

"Silence!" she barked at her assistant. Then, turning a sweetest of sweet smiles back at Kakashi, she offered him the scroll. "But remember, if this falls into the wrong hands, or you give it to her before you have the data we need, I'll cut your balls off. This is my life's secret Kakashi~"

Naruto swallowed. Women were scary.

A swift bow and an anxious puff of smoke later, as if he couldn't wait to be out of the room, Kakashi was gone.

"Right then. Yamato. I want you to summon Team Gai, and Inuzuka Kiba here.Go!" It was amazing how, with just a freakin' flick of the wrist, the woman could just summon and banish Jounin-level ninjas as if it was nothing.

"Naruto. Sai." The two boys stood to attention. "Get your things. Your mission is to find Utakata of the Hidden Mist and take him back from his kidnapers who are, as you have probably guessed by now, most likely Akatsuki S-Class criminals. Details to be explained after Kakashi has obtained all extra data, and has met up with you. Be at the gate in precisely one hour. _Dismissed!"_


	2. The Way He’s Built

**Chapter 2**

**The Way He's Built**

"We're all here? Good."

Capitan Yamato was a man in his mid twenties with short brown hair and, to put it bluntly, and Naruto always put things bluntly, _big freaky eyes._ Yamato had been on the team that went to protect Hotaru from those who would have liked to steal The Forbidden Jutsu. He now surveyed what he had to work with.

Naruto, Sakura and Sai had all been on The Forbidden Jutsu mission with him. Hotaru, now standing next to Sakura, was not going to be of much use in battle, but was a vital source of information and might prove a very important emotional chip were Utakata was concerned.

Team Gai was present. It consisted of a Jounin, Hyūga Neji, and two Chuunin, Rock Lee and Tenten. The team had been chosen because it had worked with Team Kakashi on infiltrating an Akatsuki hideout before. It didn't take a genius to guess that that might just be what they would have to do again.

And then there was Kiba and Akamaru. It was rare for a solo man to be separated from his team to join another team. However, this was a special case. Since Kakashi was not going to be traveling with them they were going to need Kiba. Kiba was the man. Akamaru was the great white dog whose head reached up to Kiba's shoulder. He was massive. Kiba's nose was even better than Akamaru's. He was one of the best trackers in the Hidden Leaf. They were going to need him.

Kiba smirked as he looked about him at the gathering ninjas, his hand stroking Akamaru's fur automatically. He had been with Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Captains Kakashi and Yamato on the last Sasuke-Rescue mission, which had failed– like all the others. It had been as they were returning to the village empty handed that Lady Katsuyu, Lady Tsunade's slug and friend, had been summoned to the tree branch just ahead of them. She informed them that a clan that the Hidden Leaf was allied with was in trouble. Team Kakashi, headed by Capitan Yamato, were called away immediately. The rest had proceeded to the village. Kiba had been a little annoyed. As exhausted as he had been from the days of tracking, he would have liked a mission to get the taste of abject failure out of his mouth.

Well, this was his chance. Apparently Naruto hadn't managed to wrap up the mission as cleanly as he could have. A Jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki were now involved. Kiba was sure they would all be debriefed on the way. As it was, despite the dangers, Kiba couldn't help but get a little bit excited. He eyed Hotaru some twenty feet away from him. This mission might just have some perks to it...

"Alright everyone, I want your attention," Yamato called out, drawing everyone's heads towards him. "This is a Jinchuuriki retrieval mission. Most of you know what that means. Due to the success of the previous mission, when you rescued the Kazekage, Gaara, you have been assembled in almost the identical team formation. Maito Gai will not be joining us because he is on a solo mission in the Wave Country right now. We are to apprehend and rescue the Jinchuuriki Utakata-san and bring him back to our village for the time being. We can assume fairly certainly that his kidnappers were Akatsuki. I need hardly tell you that there are far fewer Akatsuki members now than there were when the Kazekage was captured. I'd like to say that that's in our favor. But frankly, I really don't know. It may just mean that they've brought out the _big guns_. … While I said that you were all chosen because of the success of the previous mission, I know that you all know that no two missions are alike. Keep on your guard. Hopefully Kakashi will attain some extra information for us from the Hidden Mist and will rejoin with us before we reach the Akatsuki base holding Utakata-san. Kiba, you will lead. Hotaru, if you please."

Hotaru nodded and presented the Bubble Blower to Kiba, who flashed her a toothy grin. The boy took it in hand, brought it to his nose, and took in a deep breath. He looked like a connoisseur appraising the vintage of a wine. He frowned.

"What's up?" Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"The soap…It's an over powering smell of soap. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a human smell off of this."

"EH?!" Naruto nearly cart wheeled. "What the hell!? Weren't you the one telling all of us how your nose is even better than a freakin' nin-dog's?! What do you mean you can't-"

"Found it."

Silence. "…You suck, man."

Kiba just smirked. "Follow me," he said cockily as hes mounted Akamaru like a horse and they shot off into the forest.

Sakura bit her lip as she watched them all launch off into the air, and thought back to the conversation she'd had not an hour ago with the Hokage.

**…**

"Sakura, ready yourself. You and Lady Hotaru are leaving within the hour."

"Eh?" Both girls looked up as the Hokage entered the room. They had been sitting on an office couch, with Sakura coaxing tea into a now slightly-calmer Hotaru.

"Lady Hotaru, Yamato is gathering everyone. Naruto nearly broke the floor, he shot off so fast and Sakura's the best medic-nin I have. At least for now, everything is under control," the Hokage smiled reassuringly at the girl. She was already looking better.

Hotaru smiled and her shoulders slumped as relief washed over her. "Thank you so much…"

"Lady Hokage."

"Hm?" Tsunade looked from Hotaru to Sakura, who beckoned her to the side.

"A word in your ear, if I may." The two walked out of the room and into the hallway. "Master, I must ask you: let Hotaru remain here while she is recovering. She's in no state to travel."

"Sakura…"

"She's weak. She traveled without rest just to get here! She's been on her feet over twenty-four hours. She's a delicate girl. Not an advanced ninja by any stretch of the imagination and she is completely exhausted."

"Sakura. Does this have anything to do with Naruto?"

Sakura stiffened a little. Just a little. Tsunade smirked.

"I saw the way you looked at him hugging her. Sakura, you know-"

"I was too proud to let him hug me when I lost Sasuke-kun," Sakura said curtly, not fully meeting her master's eyes. "I was broken, but still too proud. Or rather… I thought I was salvaging my last scrap of pride." She smirked, and met her gaze again. "Don't let her go, Master. She'll only be hurt worse. And Naruto… you must have realized that he's using this as a way to soften the pain of failing to catch up with Saskue-kun once again. That last rescue mission… We were so_ close._ I don't want her to see him fail. And I don't want_ him _to see her see him fail!"

There was silence. "You don't _really_ believe that." Tsunade said, her eyes sparkling. "You tell yourself you should, but you really don't. You don't_ really_ believe that Naruto will fail in bringing this Sir Utakata back to Lady Hotaru." _Just as you don't really believe that Naruto will fail to bring Sasuke back to you._

It didn't need to be said.

"It's just that she'd recover so much better if…"

"Did you recover at all, knowing Naruto was out there, risking his life fighting to bring Sasuke back?" The silence was heavy in the hallway.

"…I'll go pack." With a final bow, Sakura excused herself.

**…**

"Lee!" Sakura grabbed hold of Lee's shoulder just as he was about to follow the other's into the tree tops. "I have a favor to ask you."

Lee was a miniature of his Team Capitan, Gai.

That wasn't a complement.

The man wore a skin tight body suite of green spandex with only sandals, orange leg warmers, and a green vest. In short, an accessory everywhere but where it was really needed. He had a bowler haircut of black hair and the most enormous eyebrows that had ever been seen on the face of the earth. Or on the face of any human being on the earth. He was also extremely strong, extremely brave, extremely kind, and had a huge crush on Sakura.

In short, in Sakura's opinion, a very good man with very bad taste in clothing and very good taste in women.

"What is it, Sakura-san?" He said, casting an anxious glance to the trees into which their companions had already disappeared. He may have a crush on her, but he was also the most openly competitive ninja in the Hidden Leaf, and he didn't want to fall behind.

Sakura nodded at Hotaru. "Would you please carry Lady Hotaru, Lee? I remember you mentioning something about piggybacks and training…and she is still very exhausted, and isn't a qualified ninja, so while she can tree-travel for short distances I would prefer if-"

"But of course!" In the blink of an eye, Lee was kneeling before Hotaru, her hands in his. "Dear lady! Please fear not! I shall carry you as gently as if you were my own mother! And I shall protect you from harm as if you were my own sister! Now, if you would be so good as it climb onto my back, we shall set forth to find this Sir Utakata, to whom you are, undoubtedly, a most beloved mistress!"

"…"

Swept up as she was by a new wave of shock, and not saying a word, Hotaru very gingerly climbed onto Lee's back. The second he felt her securely settled he shot up into the trees, eager to catch up with his comrades. "To Youth! _YOUTH!_ _**YOUUUTH!"**_

Sakura snorted and, smiling for the first time since this whole nasty sequel of an adventure had crashed down upon them, took off after Lee and Hotaru.

**…**

Kakashi bowed low to the Mizukage.

"Sharingan Kakashi, what brings you to my village?" Terumii Mei said, carefully examining her nails. Red hair cascading in every direction, a figure to die for and a powerful aura of femme fatale: he could see the similarities between her and the Hokage. They were alone in a great hall, apart from a white-haired boy standing behind her throne, looking very sheepish and very pre-pubescent. Her bodyguard and aid, Kakashi presumed.

"Madam," he said, unbending, and cutting right to the chase, "you are familiar with the name Utakata?" It was a risk to start so. Of course she was familiar with the name Utakata. Jinchuuriki were only ever picked from the families of the kages. Originally it had been an attempt to ensure their loyalty. She would know the name. Most likely his name was a black smudge upon her family tree. Still, it was a risk not to start so, and to beat around the bush. If he had learned one thing from the Hokage, it was that powerful, beautiful women tended to have short tempers. A potential lose-lose situation.

The anger Kakashi feared did not come. Yet. She bit her lower lip delicately, thinking. "Utakata… Utakata…" And then she clucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth and sneered a little. "Of course. That brat. You know he reeked quite a bit of damage here. I believe I sent an ANBU squad to deal with him not too long ago…" she thought for a moment more. "Yes. Yes I believe I did. _Anyway,_ what is our little missing nin to you?" she asked, finally fixing her eyes onto Kakashi. Ah. Now he saw it. Her eyes were sparkling with malice.

_Moment of truth. Did he lay all of his cards on the table or not? _

Well… maybe not _all._

"We believe that the ANBU you sent out was obliterated by Akatsuki. Apparently Utakata was in contact with the ANBU, whilst clearing his name. They, the ANBU, were caught in the crossfire. He, Utakata, the Jinchuuriki, was taken captive by the Akatsuki."

A violent hiss escaped the Mizkage and before Kakashi could even blink she was standing flush up against him, a clawed hand gripping into his hair. "Ooh," she hissed into his ear, "you have some nerve to go blurting out classified information like that without even blinking that one eye of yours." She was fast. Kakashi could feel her nails scraping along his skull and suppressed the urge to shiver. _Keep absolutely still._ "So~" she said, pulling away from him, her anger seemingly gone completely, except from her eyes, "How do you know about our little Jinchuuriki and, more importantly, what is the Hidden Leaf's concern with him?"

Kakashi swallowed hard. "As I am sure you know, Akatsuki is an organization comprised of missing-nins on the S-class level who have, for a while now, been collecting Jinchuuriki and extracting the Bijuu from within their bodies. Memorably they targeted the Kazekage Gaara about half a year ago. We in Konoha, the Hidden Leaf, happen to know Utakata personally through one of our neighboring Fire Nation clans, the Tsuchigumo Clan, which he became involved with."

The Mizukage quirked an eyebrow at that, but if she was in any way actually curious, she suppressed it. "Humpf," she turned away from him, taking a leisurely – and very sensual – walk across the great hall.

"That, coupled with the desire to keep yet another Bijuu from falling into the lap of the Akatsuki, has brought me here. I implore that you disclose to me all the files concerning Utakata, his master, for whose death he has been branded a missing nin, and," he swallowed again, "the process of Bijuu extraction which his master was working on before his death."

She paused, and slowly turned, her eyes narrowed on him. "…You really must have known Utakata well. Not only that, but this confirms what you say about the fact that he was in association with out ANBU, as it was that scrap of information, top secret information, that they were charged to relate to him – that it was the Bijuu's extraction and not the Jinchuuriki's death that Harusame was attempting to achieve."

_So… Utakata's master's name had been Harusame…_

She bit her lower lip again, eyebrows raised, and looked him up and down very slowly. It was like a snake eyeing a particularly plump mouse. She smirked. "You may be the real deal after all, Sharingan Kakashi. However," she moved back to her throne and collapsed into it, dangling her legs expertly off the armchair. Kakashi was beginning to change his mind. She was infinitely _worse _than the Hokage. And he never thought he would live to see the day when_ that_ happened. "What you ask for is completely out of the question. We, like every other nation, guard our Jinchuuriki secrets very jealously, Kakashi." She was once again examining her nails. "And we simply _cannot_ go disclosing them to every-" her eyes fell upon the scroll Kakashi had pulled out of his pack.

A perfectly ordinary looking scroll.

"Is that…"

"Yes," Kakashi said. The time for facts was over. The last card, so to speak. Flattery, full speed ahead. This was the reason he had been chosen for this mission. "The Fifth Hokage's most jealously guarded jutsu and the source to all of her power." He raised the scroll a little higher. _"The Transformation Technique of Youth."_ He smirked under his mask. "Usually a Transformation Technique requires a constant presence of mind and concentration of chakra. However, the Hokage has found a way to build this technique into her very brain, making it a continuous and automatic phenomenon. When she works, sleeps," he spun the scroll between his fingers, "or wakes up in the morning with a bad hair day, she looks in the mirror at a twenty-five year old self~"

The Mizikage stiffened. A woman's appearance in the morning was a secret and taboo discussion. If he was implying…

"However, I suppose this was a waste to bring," Kakahsi said, repackaging the scroll. "After all, seeing you in person, I can tell that you certainly don't need such a technique, and surely _never will. _It was in insult of the Hokage even to suggest I bring it for any future usage and for that I entirely apologies," he said, forming a low bow. "I was a fool to ask for so much while offering so little. My Lady, I wish you all the happiness in the world, and I'm sorry for having taken up your precious, _ever beautiful,_ time." He made to leave.

"Wait."

Kakashi turned, one eyebrow raised in mock-surprise.

The Mizukage, her lips pursed and her eyes hungry, gestured to the boy behind her who had been completely still until now.

"…Take Sharingan Kakashi to our archives and provide him with the information that he requires."

She turned back to Kakashi. "Put that Sharingan of yours to use, Copy Ninja. The original documents stay here. Present the Transformation Technique scroll to Chojuro here before leaving. Anything funny and he has my permission to snap you in two."

Kakashi directed his attention back to the boy who now smiled nervously at Kakashi…. with very sharp little teeth. A little rattled, Kakashi looked once again to the Mizukage, and bowed. "Lady Mizukage, it has been an honor."

She nodded at him, as if she quite agreed and, with a single gesture that seemed almost identical to Tsunade's, she compelled him from the room.

**… **

Hotaru held on as tightly as she could. She remembered another time, like this one, when someone had carried her through the trees at top speed. Only then, she hadn't had to hold on. He'd carried her bridal-style, close enough to his chest that she could hear his heartbeat just as clearly as she could the curses and cries of their pursuers. That had been only a week ago. Now they were not running from, but to their enemies. And now…she had to not fall off. She needed to not fall off. But she was so… so tired. How long had she been running? When had she last slept? Well, that was easy enough to answer…

_Those tears of bubbles… haunting…_

"Lady Hotaru-"

She jerked awake. The young man carrying her had just said something. "Y-yes?"

"I said you don't need to worry about holding on. I've got you and I shan't let you fall! On my life!"

She smiled sleepily, experimentally relaxing her hold a little and feeling that he did indeed have a good grip on her. How nice…

"If I may ask, Lady Hotaru," he said, again pulling her from the semi-sleep that she had begun to slip into, "how long has it been since you have had a proper rest?" Again he lurched off of a tree branch. Again she felt a little bit of herself left behind in the speed. It somehow felt easier and less alarming when she was doing the jumping. Then again, it was probably also easier and less alarming when she was in a better physical and mental state. Hotaru leaned in against Lee's back and allowed herself to relax a little more.

"…The night I realized he was gone I plowed into the forest without much thought. I didn't really come to my senses until I'd found his Bubble Blower… When I did, I realized I'd completely lost my way. I was in the forest… and I had been so frantic upon walking that I hadn't even taken my backpack with me when I'd woken up." Another jump. Another lurch. She closed her eyes. Lack of sleep and excess of travel were making her queasy. "I didn't have any paper on which to write… so I couldn't even send Konoha a messenger pigeon." Jump. "I wandered around the forest… and finally came to a road a little after down." Jump. "I suppose that was just as well… A girl traveling alone on the road at night…" Jump. "I made for Konoha… where Naruto-san was. I… I kept off the roads at night… then finally… I got…"

"Don't worry, Lady Hotaru!"

Again, Hotaru jolted awake. "Eh?"

"Naruto will doubtlessly save him!"

Hotaru smiled. "You really think so?"

"No!" he said, sending her heart directly to the forest floor. "I _know_ so! After all, he saved my own best friend and comrade, Neji!"

Hotaru shifted a little, waking up even more now_. Neji-san?_ She had been introduced to everyone before they had all set out and if she was not mistaken Neji-san was the gentleman with the long black hair and the distinguished profile. He seemed a relic from an old feudal age which even she did not adhere to, as traditional as her grandfather had been. He did not seem like the type that allowed himself to be saved._ But then, neither did Sir Utakata._

"…What did Naruto-san save him from?" Jump.

"Himself," Lee answered promptly, landing hard on yet another branch and pushing off again. "Neji was the victim of his own blinding ideas of fate and family, which were swiftly driving him into the ground. Naruto, during the Chuunin Exams, in one single epic battle, shattered twelve years of self hatred and perfected failure, and thus you now have the Neji of today! The only Jounin of our age group and a worthy rival to yours truly, Rock Lee! The Green B-"

"I have counseled you about talking too much and the discretion that being a Chuunin entails, have I not?"

Neji, the man himself, his black hair whipping out behind him as he skimmed across tree branches, was on level with Lee and Hotaru.

Hotraru blushed furiously. He had been listening to every word of their conversation!

Lee, however, was undaunted. "Ah! Neji! Why don't you tell her how Naruto beat some sense into you!? Lady Hotaru is clearly worried about her beloved, and thus it is our duty as gentlemen to assuage her worries!" "Again, your indiscretion knows no bounds," Neji said coolly, keeping in stride with Lee. "Firstly, we were told nothing more of this Utakata character than that he is Miss Hotaru's master and educator. You will refer to him as such." Hotaru blushed even more. It was true. She had the highest regard for Sir Utakata, but had never actually thought of him in the manner that Rock Lee had described. She had sought him out for his skills as a ninja, and those alone. Though why she was blushing now, she couldn't say…"Secondly, we will not give false hope. We are up against a very formidable opponent: the Akatsuki. Idle promises are the same as idle breathe, and that is a commodity only the weak ninja can afford. And slow your pace. It is clear that, besides your unseemly enthusiasm, which is hard to stomach for any reasonable ninja, your speed is making the Lady ill." Having spoken, Neji fell into a distinguished silence.

Lee huffed at him. "You say that, but you've still sped up to keep half a branch ahead of me!"

Neji nearly tripped. "N-nonsense! Do not carry your adolescence over onto me!"

"How dare you call Lady Hotaru an adolescent! She is a seemly young woman!"

"I- I didn't call her an adolescent! And what do you mean!? 'Seemly young woman!' Where is your decorum as a gentleman!?"

"Um… Um… Lee- san… Neji-san… There… there really is no need…"

Naruto grinned, watching the three of them from a little ways behind. It was fun to watch Neji and Lee go at each other. In a way it was like watching a "what if" scenario. He liked to think that it was how he and Sasuke would have acted in the here and now.

**… **

It was nightfall, and they were all sitting around the campfire, chatting. They had all been debriefed, and those who had not been up to speed on the mission of the previous week were now on the same page as those who had actually partaken in it. Capitan Yamato, who was a specialist in wood ninjutsu, had erected a house for them to sleep in. However, it was dinner time, so for the moment the entire crew was outside. Naruto had discovered earlier that Hotaru had an affinity with water ninjutsu. An affinity he had not qualms exploiting, as he asked her to fill every single of one his cups of Instant Ramen with water. He was now heating one such cup over the fire. It was a delicate process. The flames were hot, meaning he had to use makeshift wood pliers to uphold his cup. However, wood burned; hence he had asked Hotaru to wet the pliers as well. Really, it would have all been so much easier if Hotaru could just produce boiling water, like a kettle. Alas, she wasn't there yet. Now, clasping a Styrofoam ramen cup with soggy wooden sticks – pliers – without breaking the sticks or setting the Styrofoam on fire was exceedingly difficult. However, there was a greater incentive than even ramen to do the job properly. If he dropped the cup or allowed it to burn through, the water would spill and extinguish the fire and Sakura would pummel him half to death, leaving him beaten_ and_ without ramen.

Yes, truly a great incentive.

"Yo!" Kiba plopped down on the ground next to him, almost forcing him to drop his ramen.

"GAH! What do ya want!?" Naruto howled, pulling the ramen in against his chest protectively. Oh screw it, it was warm enough! A little too hastily he stuffed a mouthful between his teeth and the night air resonated with the _crunch_ of half-cooked noodles.

Kiba quirked an eyebrow, and leaned back against a tree. "Uh…hu." He shrugged. "Actually I was just wondering what you could tell me about the little Lady _Hotaru~"_ he said, nodding across the campfire.

Something akin to a cold drop of water trickled _up_ Naruto's spine. He turned to look at the lounging Kiba, and then looked back over the fire. There, flickering between the flames was Hotaru, deep in conversation with Lee. They seemed to have become fast friends. Everything Hotaru said was quirky and everything Lee said was laughable. They worked.

"_Sooo?~"_Kiba prompted.

Naruto looked at him again, his eyes narrowing. Kiba was a guy his own age, with a mane of brown hair on his head, two fang-like markings down his cheeks and rather sharp little canines. Naruto had once overheard him described as _"the cool, suave version of Naruto." _That had pissed him off. Of course, that had also been before Naruto had beaten the crap out of him during the Chuunin Exams. Still… Kiba was definitely someone to keep an eye on.

He swallowed his crunchy noodles. "Why do ya care?"

Kiba quirked a smug eyebrow at him. "Seriously? Dude just _look _at those…" he raised his two clawed hands as if cupping two orbs… on chest-level.

_AND A PUNCH TO THE FACE!_

"You pervy pooch!" Naruto had straddled Kiba and was beating the ever-loving-life out of him. "You sick, little, pervert!" Punch. Punch. McPunch. "You're like the Pervy Sage! Except depraved and without the Awesome Streak!"

Akamaru howled from across the camp and lunged over the fire to join the fray. "Oh ya?!" Kiba gasped as Akamaru tackled Naruto off his master. "Well I'm not the little shit-for-brains who can't even _spell_ Depraved!"

"I can too! D-E-A-PAGFgh!" Kiba and Naruto's heads met twin fists that came down like Heaven's retribution.

Naruto look up, his eyes tearing and his head splitting. "S…Sakura-chan…"

**"_You…"_** he couldn't see her eyes, the way the fire was dancing shadows in this forest. **_"You spilled the ramen. On the fire."_**

Oh fuck.

**… **

About an hour later Naruto came 'round. The fire was blazing again, and he had been slumped back to back against Kiba, like a broken toy. Akamaru was a healthy distance from the two, kept there under the hostile eyes of Sakura.

"She's taken," he finally rasped.

"Heh. Really now. I thought you were all about _Saakuuraa-chaan~" _Kiba chided back with difficulty, trying his best to keep his eyes from crossing.

Naruto wished he could pummel him again. He tried to move. _Oh that doesn't feel good._

"The guy we're going to save…"

"This Utakata guy?" Kiba rolled his head around. "I thought he was her master?"

"He's our age. A year older." Naruto muttered.

"And she calls him _Master?"_ Kiba sounded amused. "Kinky."

Naruto's face flushed up. "Don't be such a prick. It's not like that!"

"Come on, idiot. Don't be so naïve. A girl like that and-"

"She was entrusted into his care by her guardian and her village," Naruto snarled quietly, trying to focus his gaze on the fire. He remembered the confidence with which Tonbee had looked at Utakata. "Hotaru…she was Tonbee's reason for life," he went on. "He wouldn't have trusted her into anyone's care but Utakata's." He smirked. "Because… because he knew that Utakata was secretly crazy about her, but would never hurt her. He's honorable. Really honorable. Hell, I'm pretty sure that even Hotaru doesn't know how he feels… or how she feels, really… And Utakata… that's just the way he's built. …Honorable." His eyes slid from the fire and to the back of Kiba's head. "That's why, if you even think about touching her while Utakata's in the hands of the Akatsuki, I'll break every bone in your body."

There was silence between the two of them while everyone else continued to murmur softly and the fire continued to snap and crack. Silence. "Shit…" Kiba didn't meet Naruto's eye. "Sorry."

"Ya, you better be," Naruto nodded, finally mustering up the strength to stand, which caused Kiba to fall on his back. Naruto again teetered over to his hoard of Instant Ramen.

_Utakata… you'd better still be alive,_ he thought, his head pounding as he thrust another cup in the fire at stick-pliers-distance.

**… **

Seventeen years old, and this was where his life would end. Could he really complain though? Ninjas were never expected to live to old age. Not really. And a Jinchuuriki among ninjas… well…

His head was pounding. The blood had gone to it, what with the way he was slung over the man's shoulder. How many were there again?

Shit… he was going to die.

He cracked his lips open, and let out air. _"Hhhhh…Hhhhhh…"_ _Hotaru…_

At least she was safe. Hopefully the bubbles laced with genjutsu had found their way to her. Hopefully she had not woken up until hours later, by which time he and his captors were long gone.

Had he done right? He had left an unprotected girl, alone, in a field, asleep. What if someone had come, one of the villagers who still bore her ill will, what if he had… Utakata closed his eyes more tightly. _No._ No, he couldn't think like that. The field they had stopped in was not a common haunt, nor a common rout. And it was covered in yellow flowers. If she were just to lie down among them, her very presence might go unnoticed.

_My Bubble Blower… where is my Bubble Blower…_ He twitched the fingers of his left hand and pain shot up his arm. Ah yes, he remembered…Just after sending that last farewell to Hotaru one of his attackers had jumped down the landslide and had brought his heel down on Utakata's hand, twisting it, cracking it, and had then taken the Bubble Blower from his grasp. A second twist. A second crack. He was powerless.

_I'm sorry I could not become the teacher you wanted me to be._

_I'm sorry I could not become the man I wanted so badly to become. _

_I'm sorry… we could not… _"I'm so sorry, Hotaru…"

He felt a hand grab hold of his hair, pull, and then felt his head smash against the spine of whoever it was that was carrying him. The bearer did not even flinch. For Utakata, however, _Oblivion._


	3. The Mementos of Awesome People

**Chapter 3**

**The Mementos of Awesome People**

"You sure this is the place?"

Akamaru growled in irritation.

Kiba cast him a scathing glance with a black-and-blue eye. Naruto replied with the same. _"Yes,_ Idiot. I'm sure."

"…It's a lake."

Kiba pinched the bridge of his nose. "Naruto, look at that mountain. You see it? To your right."

"Obviously I see the mountain! It's a freakin' mountain!"

Kiba smirked. "_Goood_ boy. Now. The scent stops here, which means…?"

"…Their hideout is in the lake!?"

"IDIOT!" Kiba roared. "It means that the entrance to the hideout, which is in the mountain, can only be reached from _underwater,_ where my sense of smell can't go! Which means that we could spend HOURS looking for the tunnel, and not find it! And- _What?!"_

Neji cleared his throat rather pointedly. "Please keep your voice down, Kiba," he said coolly. "And you, Akamaru and Naruto should step off of the beach. That orange jumper will attract attention." He himself was speaking from the safety of the tree branches.

Seeing that they had been coming nearer and nearer to the hideout, Capitan Yamato had sent him, Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru to scout ahead while the rest of the team waited a mile into the forest.

Rather hastily Naruto, Akamaru and Kiba scurried back into the tree cover and Neji leapt down to meet them. He didn't even make a sound in the drop. "Now," he said, straightening up, "have you forgotten my Byakugan, Inuzuka Kiba? It would be most carless of you, seeing as my own cousin is on your team."

Kiba swallowed. Neji was a Jounin. Only a year older than Kiba and Naruto, he was still a veritable genius and a member of the elite Hyūga Clan. Through the long black hair that fell around him like a veil two milky eyes, inherent in the clan bloodline, pierced out at them. His very presence commanded authority.

_Ya, but when you come down to it you're no better than Kiba. I kicked __**both**__ your asses back in the Chuunin Exam. _Naruto smirked, scratching the back of his head.

Almost as if he had read his mind, Neji fixed his eyes on Naruto. "Report back to Capitan Yamato about what we have learned. Kiba and I shall remain here while I pinpoint the exact location of the underwater enterence." With that he formed a hand-seal and activated his greater sight.

_Asshole, ordering me off like that._ Fuming, Naruto took off back into the forest.

"Hey, guys," he said, leaping through the window of Yamato's camping-house a few minutes later and landing on the table in the middle of the room and in the midst of his comrades. "We found where the scent leads, but it's a little iffy. Its-"

"Naruto, you're stepping on the documents."

"Hu?" Naruto looked down to see he had landed on a pile of very important looking documents, in front of which stood a very irritated looking Kakashi.

"AH! Kakashi-sensei! You're back!" he carried backwards in surprise, toppling off the table and onto the floor with a lou_d __thwack._

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Hotaru was right there by his side, helping him to his feet.

"Fine," he wheezed. "Just fine."

"Don't worry so much Lady Hotaru, there's nothing in there to damage, eh, Naruto?" Tenten quipped humorously. Tenten was a girl, but she was more like the ultimate tomboy, and that was in a culture of ninjas.

"Wha…what is all this stuff?" Naruto asked, shuffling forward and bracing his arms against the table as Kakashi very gingerly picked up a footprint imprinted document and brushed as much dirt off as he could.

"Didn't you have a report to make, Naruto?" Naruto looked at Capitan Yamato who was standing next to Kakashi.

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh ya," he pointed back in the direction from which he'd come. "There's a lake south-west of here. That's where Utakata's scent stops. Kiba reckons the entrance to the cave is underwater somewhere. There's a mountain next to the lake that probably holds the actual hideout. Neji's trying to pinpoint the location now with his Byakugan while Kiba keeps a nose out for any enemies," Naruto breathed a deep sigh, exhaled, blowing out his cheeks, and grinned. "I think that covers everything."

"Sounds like you were totally useless in the search," Kakashi said testily. He then looked at Yamato. "What on earth did you send him for?"

Yamato laughed. "Brute strength, and as the messenger, in case something just like this happened. Via Shadow Clone if it got too bad at that end."

"Ah."

"Oy, oy, oy! Who's the messenger?!"

"Anyway, back on topic," Kakashi said, overriding Naruto. "Sakura, these are the files on the Extraction Method," he said, handing her a thick packet of papers.

"Thank you K- _Kakashi-sensei!_ Your hand!" In handing her the pile of papers it became very clear that Kakashi's right hand was trembling violently.

"Ahahahaha~ Put it down to too much copying," he said with that cheery voice that could break china. "And here," he said, holding up two lonely sheets, "is what we know about Utakata and his master."

"EH?!" Naruto blurted out, squinting at the papers. "That's _it?!"_

_"Yes. That's __it." _Kakashi answered curtly, as if what he was_ really_ silently saying was 'Thank _God.'_ "Now, I shall begin." He cleared his throat and read from one of the two papers, "Utakata's master's name was Harusame. He was in his mid fifties when he died. In life he had imperfect vision and wore spectacles. This was due to his constant research, which he conducted alone and without any aids in, and I quote, _'the most unacceptable of research centers, in pursuit of the most unorthodox practices.' _It also makes a note here that Harusame's '_eccentricity' _was confirmed when he voluntarily took as his apprentice," Kakashi swallowed, _"the Six-Tailed Slug Jinchuuriki."_

Naruto shifted in place. "Slug?" he wrinkled his nose. "That doesn't really suit Utakata."

Tenten snorted. "Ya well, with that brain of yours you've never really been one to _out-fox _anyo-OW!" Sakura had crunched her heal down on Tenten's foot with a warning glance towards Hotaru. Anything to do with Jinchuuriki, and information about them, was classified. Naruto knew that, and as much for Hotaru's safety as for the village's it was best she was kept in the dark about his own true identity.

"It is clear that he was also a very skilled Fūinjutsu user, as he was the one to seal the Bijuu inside his student to begin with."

Naruto swallowed. "His master was the one who made him a Jinchuuriki?" He remembered Old Lady Chyo, and the complicated emotions she had had towards Gaara. But this seemed different from even that. To be the guy who ruined Utakata's life…and then to be the one to teach him how to protect himself… to become his master… and to live every day with the guilt of what he'd done to his student… Naruto couldn't imagine it.

"So," Kakashi said pointedly, "Not only was Harusame frowned upon because of his research, but also because he passed his findings down to Utakata. It would appear that he actually taught Utakata how to contain the beast and not allow it to control him. Or have some sort of connection with it so that when he did release it, Utakata could do so minimally, so that _he,_ Utakata, might remain in control."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. A connection between Bijuu and Jinchuuriki? A level of control? The only other host he'd ever met had been Gaara, and neither of the two of them had been able to have any sort of connection with their inner beasts. How was it that Utakata-

"What's the problem with that?" Tenten's voice pooled up onto the table, interrupting Naruto's thoughts. She herself had plopped down on the floor to rub her injured toot.

"The problem with that is that Jinchuuriki have never been trusted," Yamato said gravely. "The reason Gaara was originally appointed Kazekage was not just because of his skill, but because he had become more passive and the Council of the Hidden Sand believed he would become easier to control."

There was a moment of silence at this. Wind rustled through the trees, in through the window, and gently moved the papers in Kakashi's hands. No one looked directly at Naruto. And he just smirked down at the table top. "Ya well, he showed them, didn't he. He won the villagers' support, he saved the village. And he came home alive." He looked up at Kakashi again. "What about Utakata?"

Kakashi cleared his throat and flipped sheets. "Not much."

"Eh!?" Naruto said again.

"He's seventeen years old, worth 50 million ryo in the Mist's Bing Book, and has been a rogue ninja for a little over a year. His father actually offered him as a vessel for the Bijuu at his birth, and has never looked back. Neither he nor his wife was open to questionings and, given that they hadn't actually seen Utakata since his infancy, I didn't really see what they could do to help me. Or would. There appears to have been a situation of… infidelity."

"InfiWho'sAWhat?"

"Infidelity, Naruto!" Sakura said in exasperation. "I means-"

"-It means that Utakata's father, who was the inheritor of the Bubble Bloodline, slept with a Terumii woman, related somehow or other to the current Mizukage, Terumii Mei. One that wasn't the man's wife. And thus begot Utakata. Utakata was then handed over to Harusame, who is also his uncle. I'm sure that no one cared enough about the boy's upbringing to mind that he was being taken in by the black sheep of the family. This also explains why Utakata is such a master of his jutsu, despite being ostracized by the greater part of his bloodline-clan."

Naruto swallowed. "So to save his marriage… he offered his son as a vessel for a Tailed Beast."

"Correct."

There was a crack that resonated through the whole room, and Sakura, Hotaru, Tenten, Lee and Yamato jumped back a step.

Naruto looked down and saw that his grip had cracked the tabletop. "S-Sorry," he muttered, unclenching his fists and shaking them out. "Hehehe. Nervous tick. Happens all the time."

Hotaru laid a hand on his shoulder. "…Naruto?"

"Hehehehe," Naruto didn't meet her eyes, bust just continued to stare blankly at the table. Sakura looked away from him, and swallowed the knot in her throat as discreetly as possible.

…He wasn't really surprised. He, Gaara, Utakata. Being a Jinchuuriki meant growing up in pain. Still… despite all that… _it still pissed him off._

"What else?" he said curtly, pocketing his hands. Everyone slowly levitated back to the table. Tenten was on her feet again.

"Actually, that's the lot of it," Kakashi threw the two sheets of paper on the cracked table between them. "Now we wait to see what Neji and Sakura come up with."

Sakura sighed. "I'll get right down on this," she said, shaking the formidable packet. With that she turned on her heels and left to seek quiet in another of the many rooms in Yamato's camping-house.

"…'Wait'…" Naruto mumbled, his fists still trembling in his pockets. "I hate 'Wait.'"

He felt her grip tighten on his shoulder, and looked around at Hotaru. She smiled at him. It was a smile that mirrored his own. He wasn't alone.

**…**

Something that resembled the top of a Venus flytrap was poking out of the upper-part of a trunk, just outside the window. It smirked. Or rather, the white and black face at the heart of the Venus flytrap smirked.

"_Geez. But I got really scared when that Jinchuuriki guy came bounding out of nowhere. I thought he'd seen us for sure,"_ sighed the white half.

"_**He's an idiot, like you,"**_ murmured the black half.

"_Oy now!"_ the white half harrumphed. _"…But what do you make of all of this?"_

"_**Very interesting."**_

"_Really?" _mused the white half. _"I find it all kinda pathetic."_

"_**Let's go and report to Pain."**_

"_Aww, but we just got here. And I wanna hear the rest of this soap-opera." _

Ignoring its counterpart, the black half slid its – their – entire body back into the tree and out of sight.

**…**

"Any luck yet?" Kiba growled testily.

"Be quiet and keep your nose to the ground," Neji shot back. He was more than a little _furious _with himself. This was taking an age. The entire lake was one great wet mess of genjutsu. It was impossible to scan. He knew that they were in the mountain. But how to get inside? Every time he tried to focus on a specific area within the lake it would distort and he would have to look away quickly before he was caught within the genjutsu. Kiba, apart from sniffing out any potential threats, was also on standby to clout him over the head incase Neji did get snared.

He was _not _going to get snared. He was _not _going to let his little cousin's team-mate clout him over the head!

He bit the inside of his cheek. _Damn!_

**…**

"Oh?" Pain turned around to look at the cave wall out of which the Venus flytrap was now poking out. "What brings you here, Zetsu?"

"_Will you look at that," _complained the white half. _"Not even a 'Hi, how're you doing?' Jeez you've got your screws in too tight." _He chuckled. _"Get it, screws in too tight?"_ He broke into a fully flushed giggle.

Pain was a tall man with unruly bright orange hair, _special _eyes, and with _very_ many piercings. His nose alone had some three crowbars through it.

"_**Shut up, idiot,"**_ the black half growled, before he – both of them, the two halves – turned his, their, attention back onto their leader, Pain. _**"We've found a bushel of Konoha ninjas camped on our front doorstep. They seem to want the Slug Jinchuuriki back."**_

"…Is Uzumaki Naruto among them again?"

"_**He is."**_

Pain nodded curtly at Zetsu. "I will call you back when the other five of me have returned to their resting place."

"_Eh? But shouldn't we be here just in case-"_

"Do you underestimate Pain?" A cold female voice cut through the darkness of the cave in which they were now located. "Now go!"

With a whimper and a scowl and an _"…but I wanted to watch…"_ Zetsu vanished into the wall. Silence reigned in the dark cavern of their hideout. Silence, save for the occasional dripping of water and the shallow breathing of a broken boy.

A woman's hand reached out and brushed a dark brown lock of hair out of his sweating, wrecked face. _So young. _"He won't last long unless we do something soon," her voice said matter-of-factly through the darkness.

"I cannot focus all of my energy on an extraction while I am controlling all six paths. My other five bodies will return to their resting places in Rain within the hour." Having activated all the bodies about two weeks ago to face an old face from his past he had felt that this would be as good a time as any to capture the Jinchuuriki he had been assigned – the Six-Tailed Slug. "Then I shall summon the other Akatsuki members, and we shall begin." His eyes could see through the darkness. His violet eyes with their sixth paths. The Rinnegan. "Why are you touching him like that?"

"Jealous, Nagato?" her voice echoed back across the cave in a monotone.

He turned away from her, "I knew a little jealousy once. Of Yahiko. Now I know only Pain."

The darkness of the cave was both stifling and unbearably hollow, with only that shallow, pitiful breathing to contrast it, and make it just that much more absolute, stifling, and empty.

**…**

A bead of sweat trickled down past Sakura's temple. "This… this is impossible," she murmured.

**…**

Hotaru sat in silence next to Naruto, listening to first one conversation around the room, then another. "…I don't suppose this would be a safe place to blow bubbles, would it?"

Naruto ruffled his hair a little. "I don't suppose so, no."

Hotaru smiled and reached into her pocket.

"Hm?" Naruto looked up at what she had pulled out and was showing him in the palm of her hand.

"That's a…"

"Yeah," she smiled, now twirling the little mini-Bubble Blower between her fingers. It didn't have the joints or twists that Utakata's had had. In fact, lengthwise, it could probably fit between middle finger and thumb. "After I first met Sir Utakata I resolved to get myself one. But he wouldn't have any part in it. He said it was childish and useless of me."

"Yeah… he always does have a way with words."

Hotaru's heart leapt into her mouth. Naruto… Naruto could still talk about him in the present tense… and not look as if he was exerting any effort. She had seen it in the others: how they would make the conscious effort to say "is" rather than "was." But with Naruto… he…

"Something wrong?" he said, cocking his head and snapping her back into reality.

"N-no," she gasped, smiling. "Anyway," she giggled a little. "I left a note that I had gone out shopping, and I snuck out of the mansion. I knew where all of the booby traps were, so there was no problem. Then, for an entire day, I walked around the countryside, visiting neighboring towns, buying little children's bubble blowers." She was positively pink in the face with excitement. "I'd never done anything like that before – sneak out of the mansion I mean – and I had so much fun." She turned the mini-Bubble Blower over between her fingers, thinking back… "I was on my way home when I heard him calling across the field. I looked up and saw Sir Utakata, looking flustered as anything, running towards me."

**…**

"Hotaru!" She looked up to see a light blue blur of kimono scrambling towards her across the field.

She smiled, and then gasped. "Sir Utakata! Don't come any closer! Right in front of you-" one of the many kunai traps that lay in the field around the estate was set off by Sir Utakata's next step. The kunai flew, and bounced off the bubble into which he had stepped with the same breathe.

She stared, and then slumped to the ground, her heart beating madly. _That… watching that… had been terrifying… _She swallowed hard.

"Tish. And you want to be a ninja," said a familiar derisive voice above her. She looked up and, by the rainbow glow of the bubble, could just make him out. "Come on," a hand reached out through the bubble, grabbed her upper arm, and hauled her into the bubble none too gently. His hand was a little slippery from the soap. It was cold in the night air and made her shiver. "Did I hurt you?" he asked through the darkness. It was so curious how he could sound so cold in one moment and so… fearful… in the next.

"N-No," she mumbled. "Of course not."

They sat in silence as the bubble drifted them back to the estate, the only sound coming from the wind rustling through the trees below them. She wished it wasn't so dark and she could see around her. Hotaru wondered why being at such a great height didn't bother her. It wasn't like being at the estate, where there was solid ground beneath here. Here there was nothing but air. …and Sir Utakata's bubble. She smiled a little.

"Where the hell were you?" he growled. She snapped her attention back onto him. And swallowed. They were awfully close in the bubble, and since she couldn't see him she couldn't make certain that she wouldn't touch him. "Well?!"

"I was…" she spluttered. She had been expecting to confront Tonbee. He was easy to deal with. She would have laughed childishly, given him a peck on the cheek and a hug and would have made certain to behave awfully well for the next few months. …She didn't suppose the same process would work on Sir Utakata… though she almost wished she had the courage to try it… As it was, Hotaru felt that to tell him the true… she would feel like an idiot_. "…bubl…blo...res…."_

"What?"

"I was out getting bubble blowers!" she blurted out, before bighting her lower lip and looking away again into the inky blackness below.

"…Tonbee has been frantic."

She flinched.

"He's been worried out of his mind, looking for you everywhere, not daring to ask anyone where you were because it might set off an alarm that the old man's granddaughter was missing. He's been _beside himself,"_ Utakata hissed.

Hotaru curled up. And now she felt awful. _I really am a little spoiled girl._ _…Following Sir Utakata around. …Causing so much distress for everyone… I mean… Tonbee…_ She bit her lip even harder, hoping it would bleed. _I will… not cry…_

"Did you hear what I said?! I said-"

"I _'eard!"_ She could have kicked herself. Her voice had cracked.

"…Are you crying?" there was a touch of alarm to his voice now.

"Of course not!" she hissed back across the bubble. "I'm just…" she tried to swallow the terrible knot that had lodged itself in her throat… "I'm just…." she had to spit it out before her voice caved completely, "…s-s-sorry…" Another crack.

Another silence. She composed herself a little, and whispered again, "I'm very, very so-"

"_I_ heard too," he wrapped back testily.

She nodded jerkily and rested her head against the side of the bubble.

"…You'll be confined to your room, I expect," he said at last in a monotone.

She shrugged. She had known as much when she had first snuck out. Except that had been before she had caused all the trouble, and when she had still thought it all worth it. "…I thought you didn't care for Tonbee," she rasped.

"Hm?"

"Why are you suddenly so concerned with how scared he was? And why were_ you_ looking for me anyway?" She knew it was wrong and irrational, but she was a little angry with him. Angry… because he had spoiled a perfectly decadent day, and made everything rotten and in perspective. She just wanted to bite back at him, even though she knew he'd snap back immediately with something cutting and very commonsensical.

He didn't. And Hotaru suddenly became terribly aware that he was shifting uncomfortably in the confined space of the small bubble because for a moment his leg brushed up against hers. "When we get back," he finally said in the same monotone, "…I want you to show me these bubble blowers you've purchased. If I can't stop you fan-girling over everything I do, I can at least make sure you do it with descent equipment."

"I'm not fan-girling over anyone!" Hotaru squeaked. "I just want to be a ninja!"

"_Ninjas_ don't leave notes telling their caretakers they'll be back for supper, and _'could we please have Orange Kanten Jelly for dessert today!'"_

"But if I hadn't left a note you and Tonbee would have been even more worried!"

"That's beside the point! And who said I was worried!?"

Hotaru snorted, pinched her nose and, in a very haughty and uncanny mimic of Sir Utakata's voice, began to chant, _"__Where the hell were you? __**…Tonbee**__ has been frantic. __**He's **__been worried out of his mind, looking for you everywhere. __**He's**__ been __**beside himself. **_Well what shall I say? I'm sorry _Sir Tonbee,_ I won't - do it - again!" And with that she stuck out her tongue and leaned sulkily back into the wall of the bubble.

"…"

Silence.

"_**Release!"**_ The bubble popped without warning and while Utakata landed gracefully on his feet he left Hotaru to thump onto her backside with a yelp. _"Come,"_ he said, sweeping up the mansion steps.

Hotaru, muttering many unladylike unsults, picked herself up, rubbing her smarting tailbone, and followed her master into the house.

Two hours later, very tired and very grounded, she lay stretched across her floor, five different bubble blowers carefully laid out in a row before her. She had lit a few candles perched on different shelves in her room, coating everything in flickering pitch shadows and honey-colored light. She loved candlelight. _Which one shall I choose… _She lifted one delicate hand, ringing her fingers through the air, and then reached out for the rather cute pink one on the far left.

"Definitely not."

A hand covered her mouth before she could scream. "A noisy, catty, dessert-loving, would-be ninja, eh? Tish. Taking you on would be like welcoming a lifelong splinter into my side." Hotaru swallowed and tried not to think about how one of Sir Utakata's fingers was pressing right into the depression between her lips, or how, being this close to him, she could just pick up his scent. He smelled of water and cleanliness and soap. But not of any soap that she'd ever known in the estate or anywhere else. A purely _Sir Utakata_ soap. She smiled, and he felt it, and pulled his hand away.

"Anyway, why are you so surprised? I said I'd come."

"I thought you were mad at me."

"Tish," Utakata shrugged, looking away. "Who could be mad at such a childish outburst?"

"Like popping a bubble out from under a girl and making her fall?"

"…Anyway, don't pick the pink one."

"Why?"

Utakata took in a deep, pained breath. "Well, first of all, it's pink _and-"_ he continued before Hotaru could object to his reasoning, "-it's made out of plastic."

"And that's…bad?"

Utakata shrugged and, after a moment's hesitation, smiled a little. "This is a crazy theory, but I somehow feel that the bubbles react to the weapon through which you're using them. If they feel some crappy carnival plastic toy… they just won't take you seriously."

Hotaru looked at him smiling down at her five pathetic little bubble blowers, and giggled.

"Eh?" he looked up at her. "Oh. Yeah. I expect that sounds really dumb," he said. It was amazing how quickly that cool, indifferent mask could slip into nervousness and uncertainty.

"No," Hotaru said. "No, I think it's lovely. I think the fact that you have a bond with your bubbles… make you that much more powerful."

Utakata swallowed. "Alright, what else do you have?"

"This one?" Hotaru gently touched the bubble blower next to the pink one.

"It's wood. And not good wood either. It'll blister and crack. Good for a short period of time, but totally unreliable. Next."

"This one then? It's silver, and it's very pretty!"

"…Hotaru. That's an elaborate _straw._ The only bubbles you'll be blowing with that will be in your tea."

"Eh?!"

"Then this-"

"No."

"But I didn't even explain-"

"Trust me, you don't have to. _No._ Show me the last one."

"Okay. You had _better _like this one or-"

"Or _what?"_

"…I'll hit you with it!"

"…"

With slight desperation Hotaru brought the final bubble blower between them. It was wholly unremarkable, and nothing like Sir Utakata's. It was small and undecorated and perfectly straight with the widening at one end, and it had been worth very little. She had brought it from an old vender who had been pressing her to leave his stall with _something _at least.

Sir Utakata plucked it from her fingers. "…Bronze. Strong. Not as strong as my steal one, but still." With a sharp flick of the wrist he had opened his bamboo container of soap solution. Then, the mouthpiece of the mini-Bubble Blower hooked between his pointer and middle finger, he dipped the thing into the solution, brought it back out again, took in a short breath, and pressed it to his lips.

Hotaru swallowed.

Bubbles. Beautiful, wonderful bubbles, dappled in rainbows, began to, one after another, slip out of the end of the bubble blower, as if only _just_ emerging from a long tunnel and into the candlelight of her room. They were… "Beautiful…"

Utakata pulled the bubble blower away from his lips, and looked at her. "S-sorry?"

"Oh! Nothing." She bit her lip, and they both fell silent.

"Well then," he said offering her the little bubble blower. She took it. "That's the one you should use. Though for what, I have no idea, seeing as-"

"I know," she cut him off, and smiled sadly at him. She had had such a wonderful time today. Such an absolutely wonderful time! She didn't want to hear it from him today. She didn't want to hear him say that he would never have her for his student. That he would never be her master. Just tonight, she wanted him to humor her. She nodded at him. "Goodnight, Master."

He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, and swallowed. His amber eyes seemed to glow in this firelight. He sighed. "You're hopeless," he said, getting up.

She just smirked up at him, holding onto her bubble blower. "Right back at you."

He shook his head and turned to leave as quietly as he could so that Tonbee wouldn't know Hotaru was breaking her grounded state.

"Leave the bottle of soap solution for tonight… please?" She knew that it was greedy of her. She knew that Sir Utakata liked nothing better than to sit under the great tree on the grounds, in the moonlight, and blow bubbles.

Without turning around he reached his hand up to his sash, unclasped the bottle and set it down on the ground. Then he climbed out of her window.

The next morning, when Tonbee went to wake Lady Hotaru, he saw on her bedside table Sir Utakata's bottle of soap solution – Sir Utakata's _empty _bottle of soap solution – and in her hand, the mouthpiece gently pressed against her lips, as if in a kiss, was her mini-Bubble Blower.

**…**

Neither said anything for a few moments after she finished her story. The elation with which Hotaru had begun was gone. She gently turned the little bubble blower between her fingers. "I have a confession."

"Shoot."

"I… Maybe it's because I was brought up as an heiress, or maybe it's just because I'm a brat by nature, but-"

"_Shoot."_

"…I'm so spoiled. When you said…when you and Capitan Kakashi were discussing Sir Utakata's past a moment ago, about how he was born…" Hotaru swallowed, "…The first thing that came to my mind was that his was a Bloodline Limit, and that I would never be able to learn how to use it."

Naruto winced. "You know about Bloodline Limits then?"

"Yes. A Bloodline Limit is when only a certain clan can use a certain ability by combining element chakra in a certain way. …I suppose something in his blood allowed Sir Utakata to mix soap into water-natured chakra. …I suppose I should have guessed as much by the Three Bubble Crest on the back of his kimono."

Again, silence.

"…I thought… I thought about how he helped me pick my Bubble Blower, and how he said _'That's the one you should use. Though for what, I have no idea, seeing as-' _and how I cut him off, saying _'I know.'_"She bit her lower lip, and her voice came out a little shakily now. "It's so stupid. I didn't know. I don't know anything. And all this time he was just pampering me and indulging in my silly little whims and…and…" she swallowed again, "…and my first thought upon hearing about his past, was about _me."_

"Stop it," Naruto snapped, looking straight ahead into the opposite wall. The room hummed with whispered conversations. They were free of eavesdroppers. "Don't tear yourself apart. You'll be of no use to him that way."

"But-"

"If he played along with your dreams, it was because he didn't want to see them crushed." Naruto now turned to look at her again, and she was transfixed by those eyes. They were crystal blue like clear water. Yet they seemed to _burn._ "And if he decided to become your master and train you, then he must have decided that he could train you tobe an excellent ninja despite his Bloodline Limit. He must have seen something else in you."

Hotaru swallowed. "But I'm not anything special. I'm not _worth _that kind of attent-"

"I know."

That answer shocked her, and stung her pride, even if it was true.

And then he clarified. "I know exactly how you feel. Weak, whiny and obnoxious," no one except Sir Utakata had ever spoken to her like that, "and suddenly, out of the blue, he turned around and said, _'I want to fight you too.'_"

Hotaru blinked, confused. "What?" Naruto smirked.

"I know exactly what it's like to be acknowledged by someone completely_…awesome._ I know exactly what it's like to be scared out of your brain that it's all just a twisted dream and that you'll wake up and he would never have been there. I would be alone again. I know exactly how that thrill charged up the spine when I finally _beat_ the shit out of him in some of his own stupid moves. I know." The smirk had spread into a smile. The two of them sat there, on the floor, their heads tilted back against the wall, never breaking eye contact.

"And there came a time when I _did _wake up. I was alone again." Hotaru flinched.

"But I have his forehead protector." Hotaru's eyes flickered up to his Konoha headband, emblazoned as it was with the Leaf symbol. Naruto was talking again. "I have his old forehead protector. It was by my side when I woke up. It saved me because," his smile waivered, "…because when I woke up, it was after the most terrible fight of my life, when I tried to bring him back, and failed."

Hotaru swallowed. Failed. Naruto failed?

"My head was dizzy and I wasn't thinking very clearly and if I hadn't had that forehead protector and had woken up just knowing he was _gone,_ like a _dream,_ I… I would probably have put a kunai to myself right there and then. He wanted to leave Leaf behind. And so he left his forehead protector behind as well. But along with that…" Naruto swallowed lazily, his throat dry. "..he knew the state I'd be in when I woke up."

Hotaru blinked.

Naruto nodded, still smiling a little. "He knew that. That was why he didn't bother taking it with him."

Another stretch of silence. Hotaru's fingers tightened around her mini-Bubble Blower. So, just as her memento of Sir Utakata was this Bubble Blower, Naruto's was…

"I was only able to scratch it," Naruto mused. "He knocked me unconscious and freakin' hospitalized me, but I was only able to scratch that stupid forehead protector … A final farewell, and reminder that he was still just _oh-so-fucking-awesome. _Tish." The smile again flipped to smirk and the fire in his eyes rekindled. "But not a dream…" He swallowed, and rasped again, "…not a twisted dream…" Pausing. Clearing the throat. Continuing. "The fact that I have his forehead protector is my proof that he lived – is still alive – and the fact that I scratched it is my proof that once, a really long time ago, he wore it when we fought: he acknowledged me an equal Konoha shinobi. …And for that, I must always acknowledge him as the same…no matter what…"

"…Who was- is he?"

Naruto started, as if a little surprised that she didn't know. Hotaru could, strangely enough, understand that. From the way he was talking it was as if he and this over person had been joined at the hip – as if one might just as easily have asked the arm what the shoulder was. Then he smiled.

"My teammate, my best friend, and my brother. Uchiha Sasuke."

A volt went up and down her spine. Uchina? That name was a black smear on all of the Fire Country. Even she knew it, though she didn't live in a Ninja Village. The traitor who had left his own village to join Orochimaru, the fallen-sannin who had killed the Third Hokage. The avenger who wished to kill his older brother, who in his turn had massacred his entire clan. A stained clan, the Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke. A criminal of the most dreadful caliber.

"But…" Naruto had seen how she tensed at the name. Hell, he had grown used to it. He was an expert. A flare of the nostrils, a twitch of the eye, a stillness of the breath: he had seen them all, all at the drop of _that one name._ "But, I'm sure you understand," he said,_ willing_ her to understand, "that once you've made a bond like that. A bond… _that awesome…_ you just can't let it go, no matter what he turns into because…" Naruto swallowed, "because, Hotaru, no matter what, that bond'll be the cord that helps you haul him back to you, thought anything and _everything."_

A criminal. _'He's seventeen years old, worth 50 million ryo in the Mist's Bing Book.'_ Like Sir Utakata.

Hotaru relaxed. Naruto noticed. And was grateful.

She licked her lips and, in a hoarse voice, whispered back with a smile, "And when you yourself have sunk in blood it'll be the lifeline that keeps you from drowning and the string that guides you back onto your _Ninja Way?"_ The way she said it was almost flirtatious – Utakata wouldn't have liked it. She could remember how Naruto had talked to her about his _Ninja Way_ during their last adventure. Remembered the confidence it had inspired in her. Naruto Uzumaki's Ninja Way: No matter the odds, _to never give up!_

Naruto smiled and his eyes were like shards of light. He nodded and, in the same hoarse voice, whispered back, "Exactly." Another silence. A lovely one, while they just smiled at one another. "So, don't go saying how, when you heard about how badly off he was, you immediately thought about yourself 'cause-"

"Because when you heard that you could have a mission where you could save Utakata and make me happy, you_ really_ thought about Sasuke, and about Sakura-san." Hotaru swallowed. "And that's…perfectly fine."

Naruto just smiled at her, that knowing look blazing in his eyes.

In that moment they completely understood each other. In that moment they were able to help each other and fill the gaps that Sasuke and Utakata had gorged with their absence.

"A life-preserving extraction is completely out of the question." Sakura's voice cut the mellow atmosphere to shreds. She was standing in the doorway, papers rumpled in her grip, her face pale.

**...**

**"****C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only****" drew me this me a lovely fanart, the link to which is in my profile – it relates to when Utakata helps Hotaru pick a Bubble Blower. Thank you so much!**


	4. Not A Theory

**Chapter 4**

**Not A Theory**

Neji was smug. "Got it."

Kiba, who had sat down and was, at the moment, scratching doodles into the sand with a stick, looked up at him, bored. "Finally?"

Neji was nettled. "I will have you know," he answered tersely, "that the method of genjutsu seeped into every water droplet of this lake is, apart from being very thorough, quite complicated and rather ingenious. If one stares into a certain area of the lake for too long one becomes entrapped, making it almost impossible for a careful search, particularly considering that the entrance to the hideout is, on top of everything else, camouflaged."

Kiba blinked. "So?"

"So you are thicker than Naruto," Neji muttered under his breath. _"So,"_ he said more loudly, "I began to scan the lake and found that the pull of the genjutsu activated less quickly depending on where I looked. At first I thought this meant the entrance was in an area where the genjutsu activated more quickly, but that isn't the case. The potency of the gentusts is not standard, but comparative – there is a pattern one must follow to be able to reduce the potency of the genjutsu. For example, if I was to look into the lake and not look away, the genjutsu would snare me in approximately three seconds. However, if I look West of where I first looked in the lake, the time is extended to four seconds. By the same token, if I look to the East, it shortens to two. After a process of trial and error, I have been able to lengthen the combination to twenty seconds. This is possible because of the constant shift and flow of the water. I'm sure that for the Akatsuki members themselves this combination if second nature upon approaching the lake."

"So, where is the hideout entrance?"

The lack of appreciation for his method grated on Neji's nerves. He almost missed Lee's irrational flattery. _Good Lord, have I become vain?_ "So," he said, his patience at an all time low, "the process is such: Look into the South corner of the lake, look North-east from there, that being South-west, then look North, that being North-east, East, that being South-east, and South-west, that being North."

Kiba blinked.

"The hideout's entrance. is in. the North corner. of. the lake. Behind. a bolder."

Kiba smirked. "All I needed to hear man," he said, pushing himself back into his feet and dusting the sand off his pants. Come on," he said, whistling to Akamaru, who was further down the bank, that it was time to go.

"A word, Inuzuka Kiba."Neji said, arresting Kiba with just that phrase. He had a talent when it came to being serene and imposing as hell and both at once. Kiba had stopped short just as he was walking past Neji. They stood shoulder to shoulder, staring straight ahead, and not looking at each other. Neji continued, "I noticed yesterday that you were posing certain favors of an ungentlemanly nature to Lady Hotaru. While I would have dealt with the issue in a less ostentatious manner, I was content to see Naruto address the problem last night in camp. However… should you think to approach my cousin, Hyuga Hinata, in a similar manner, please know that you will be duly castrated before the night is out. Also, until my faith in you is restored I shall, for the time being, request your other teammate, Aburame Shino, to keep an eye – a bug – on you. That is all."

With that Neji left Kiba's side and took off into the forest, leaving a clueless nin-dog and the traumatized youth to follow.

…

"A life-preserving extraction is completely out of the question." Sakura's voice cut the mellow atmosphere to shreds. She was standing in the doorway, papers rumpled in her grip, her face pale.

"Oh? How do you mean, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and clambered back to his feet, then helped Hotaru up as well.

Sakura walked over to the cracked table and began dropping paper after paper on it. "Restrains. Transfusions. Chakra prisons. Etcetera. Etcetera. _Etcetera." _She said, slapping down a few papers with each word. She looked up at all of them again, as if lost. "It's a fascinating process and the man that created it must have been a genius, but it won't work."

"How about you explain the theory to use, and then tell use exactly what won't work?" Capitan Yamato said.

Sakura nodded, and took a deep breath. "Basically, Harusame came up with this hypothetical method of reaching into Utakata's belly and hitting the five points of the seal which held the Slug within Utakata." Naruto swallowed, his hand subconsciously traveling to grip at the bit of shirt that covered his own belly and the seal that appeared there whenever he molded chakra. "This in itself would only have released the beast within Utakata, turning him into the Slug rather than removing it from his body. However, if Harusame placed his fingers correctly, he might hit pressure points on the Slug itself, momentarily paralyzing it and giving him enough time to allow his own chakra to enter Utakata's body, envelop the Slug's compressed chakra, and pull it out."

"…So what's wrong with that?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shook her head. "If he didn't hit the exact points at the very beginning it would, rather than paralyzing the beast, kick start it into action, bringing it out… and killing all present." Sakura swallowed. "Harusame messed up on the _very first step_ of his own theory."

The sentence hung heavily in the air.

"Beyond that," Sakura started again, "the time that the Bijuu would remain paralyzed would be minimal. No one who didn't know the inner workings of the beast's chakra system would be able to envelop it fast enough. And the beast's chakra is itself poisonous. The only reason that Jinchuuriki can stand it is because it is engrained into their system. No one else could endure it, let alone _envelop_ it for any period of time. And even if someone could envelop it, it would take an inhuman amount of brute force to pull it from the vessels body, and a highest ranking medical ninja's skill to do so without tearing the human vessel's vital organs into shreds. It's the core problem with _all _Jinchuuriki extractions. It's why they _die._ No one could, even if they tried, wrap themselves around the Bijuu, and pull it out _without _tearing the inner organs to shreds." She looked at everyone present. "The chakra would have to be pulled from the human's actual chakra system which, I'm sure you know, is tightly wound around the heart and other organs. It would have to be moved, without disturbing _anything. _Not to mention there is the question of what would be _done_ with the Bijuu once it was removed from its human cage." She swallowed again.

"And besides… even when removed, the sudden deficiency of accustomed chakra from the vessels body would kill the vessel from sheer shock if from nothing else." She shook her head again. "...I expect that, in the end, Harusame planned to try and make up the difference by giving all of his chakra in replacement."

"…You mean he was planning to die anyway, to liberate his student?" Kakashi echoed.

Sakura's head jerked. It wasn't quite a nod, but it wasn't quite a shake either. "But not the way he did…Not the way he would, or even could have done…because it can't be done…"

Hotaru thumped herself against the wall. There was silence in the room.

"…Gaara once said that, Shukaku, his Tailed-Beast, was sealing in a kettle before being transferred into Gaara. Couldn't we…?" Naruto finally asked hesitantly.

Sakura shook her head. "You're looking at it from the wrong end, Naruto. You need to _get_ to the kettle stage first. How do you get there, when Harusame couldn't even _paralyze_ the thing?"

Naruto didn't answer. His forehead was creased. He had never been very good with theory. Scratch that. He had always been downright awful with it. It seemed to be taking him everything he had just to keep up with the nature of Harusame's idea. Sakura turned her attention away from him and to Kakashi who had just sighed heavily.

Naruto twitched. _…But this isn't theory. No. This is __**going**__ to happen!_

"Well now, that does put a damper on everything. I can't say I was expecting to find an earth-shattering solution to Bijuu extraction – Heaven knows, the Ninja World has been looking for one long enough – but I was hoping for something at least _a little _helpful. Looks like I let myself get molested by the Mizukage for nothing~" Kakashi mused.

Dead. silence.

"_Anyway._ We'll have to devise a standard plan of attack in that case, and immediately. We've wasted far too much time on this dead-end. Yamato, would you mind listing off for use the Akatsuki members we may have to fight?"

"Oh. Y-yeah," Yamato pulled a booklet out of his pack and opened it. "Ehem. According to Kabuto, there is the Leader of the organization, about whom nothing is known save that his name is Pain."

"That's helpful," Tenten grumbled.

"There is also Hoshigaki Kisame, a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist." Tenten and Lee both exchanged significant glances. They had fought him on the Gaara Rescue Mission.

"He has in his possession the chakra absorbing-"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, could you explain that extraction thing again?" Naruto blurted out.

"Naruto, I'm talking!" Capitan Yamato snapped in exasperation.

"Jeez Naruto, you really don't get anything do you?" Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Hu?" Lee looked at her, awed. "Did you get it then, Tenten?"

"Shutup."

Sakura smiled patiently, and a little sadly. "Think of it this way, Naruto. It's like asking a mouse to go into a snake's hollow. He'll get lost in the tunnels, and even if he doesn't, and meets up with the snake, he'll just get swallowed whole. He could never actually get the snake _out _of the hollow."

Naruto thought for a moment. He looked as if he was going to hurt himself, his forehead was so compressed. "Right, so a mouse couldn't do it but… could another snake?"

Sakura opened her mouth to say 'No, of course not,' but her breath caught. She swallowed. "Naruto…?"

Naruto just smirked at her, and turned to Hotaru.

_Sir Utakata took a deep, steadying breath. "To cut through everything, first and foremost, I am a Jinchuuriki."_

"I'm a Jinchuuriki, Hotaru."

There was a gasp behind him. He didn't know whose. So much for 'keeping the big bad top-secret McSecret' and protecting the civilians from harm. Screw that. Naruto knew exactly whom Hotaru was worried about coming to harm, and it wasn't herself. He just smiled and continued. "Remember that day, on you estate, before I went looking for that Shiranami guy? Remember what I said to you, when you still had The Forbidden Jutsu stuck in your back?"

…

_"Actually…Hotaru…I'm sorta in the same dilemma as you," he smiled at her sheepishly._

_"You too, Naruto?"_

_Sakura had spluttered, "Naruto… that's…"_

_Utakata had stared at him, unblinkingly, willing him to continue._

_"I can't go into detail," he said, looking away, "but deep down, I've always been troubled by it."_

…

Naruto shrugged. "So sew me. I just went into detail. Anyway," he turned back to Sakura, "I can do this process thing."

"Naruto, you're not a medical ninja! You don't know the body-"

"I know a Jinchuuriki body better than anyone. I know the way the chakra flows and I know _exactly _what it does. I told Kakashi-sensei this once already. I know my body better than anyone."

"But this won't_ be_ your body. It'll be-"

"One Jinchuuriki to another. I'll figure it out!" there was no stopping him now. His thoughts were just spilling out of his mouth. "And as for finding the circularly system, it'll be like finding my own foot! I know that path and I know how it feels and where it hits! You yourself said that no one but a Jinchuuriki could put up with that sort of poisonous chakra! I'll envelop it, no problem! _We're made of the same stuff!_ Brute force? Please, I've got that! Capitan Yamato, didn't you _just_ say that I was the reason you sent me along with Neji and Kiba?"

"I…well…Yes…But I was half jo-"

"But Naruto!" Sakura blurted out. Yamato whimpered about being constantly interrupted. "I already said, you would have to pull the Slug's chakra out without damaging _anything! _You would need to keep an _infinitesimal _space between your chakra and the very walls of the _veins!"_

"Rasengan!"

"What?!"

"Sakura, I've mastered Rasengan, where you have to formulate a whirlwind of chakra in the palm of your hand without breaking a balloon! I'll thin it, I'll hone it, _I'll do it!"_

Lee whistled. "Naruto! You really did understand that lecture thing, didn't you."

"Not really," Nartuo smirked weakly. "…Not nearly well enough."

"I found it."

Naruto jumped and spun around.

Neji and Kiba were perched in the window. "There was a rather potent genjutsu seeped into the lake," Neji said testily. "They may have been anticipating something like my Byakugan after I found their Sealing Tags last time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kiba slurred. "Just admit that your eyes aren't as good as you say they a_AAAAA-" _thump. Neji's arm had snapped up and thwacked Kiba out of the window frame and sent him soaring from the second story to the forest floor.

A whimper followed in swift succession. Akamaru must have cushioned Kiba's fall.

Neji himself had not stirred and inch, and his arm came back to rest at his side.

"Anyway, it's not that hard to get to. Also, there is no five-tag seal on it. Just a rockslide-like cover. They underestimated my eyes," he smirked his superior smirk. "Kiba will use his Dual Piercing Fang to blast through the rockslide-"

"Don't just go assuming stuff like that! You prick!" a voice came from below.

"-and we'll have an easy access. We're in."

Naruto turned to Hotaru. "I don't know how much time I'll have to practice thinning out my chakra to the level of veins and blood vessels, if any." He said, meeting her eyes. "And I'm not Sakura-chan. I…" he swallowed hard. Again he had to wonder… _why her eyes had to be so familiarly green..._

"I may end up killing him. This whole fellow-Jinchuuriki thing I came up with is just a theory – _my _theory, to underline just how _retarded_ it might but…" From down below they could hear Kiba's muttered cursing as he and Akamaru climbed the stairs. "Whether or not to try this extraction thing… You're gonna have to make the choice for him now."

"Naruto, we don't even know if we'll be able to get a hold on hi-" Tenten's voice caught in her mouth. The way Naruto was _looking _at her… as if his eyes were of liquid fire.

He turned those eyes back on Hotaru. Hotaru held his gaze for a moment, and then looked down. She was still holding that mini-Bubble Blower.

…

"_To hell with the Forbidden Jutsu… To hell with the clan…To hell with one's master! And all these selfish bastards who do atrocious things to those who serve them, without a hint of remorse, they think of us as mere tools…" Her face crumpled and she bowed even lower, trying to curl up into herself on the fallen trunk. She didn't look up, but she felt him lean down and carefully and protectively pull her wrap back over her shoulders, and over the Forbidden Jutsu imbedded in her back. "Tools…who don't speak…" Tentatively, she leaned her head against his. She could hear his breathing by her ear, feel it as it grazed her back though his chest._

…

"If we leave things as they are, he _will _die." Everyone was silent. The only sound was Kiba's and Akamaru's panting as they leaned against the door frame. Naruto nodded. Hotaru smiled as bravely as she could. "I have no idea what you're planning or how you're going to get him back, but I know that Sir Utakata would rather die on his own terms… trying to accomplish his and his master's _dre'eam_…" her voice cracked. She really needed to work on that, "…rather than at the hands of those… who prevented him from becoming a master in his own right." She was crying again. She was so tired of crying. But the truth was she really was not sure about how Sir Utakata might want to die. Just as she had not been sure about what he had meant when he said he did not want to be kicked out of the mansion. Just as she _hadn't _known what he meant when he said her bubble blower would be useless to her. She had always pretended… always told herself that she understood. But he was a Jinchuuriki. A unique existence, like Naruto. How could she even give herself airs of understanding even a little?

"_Actually…Hotaru…I'm sorta in the same dilemma as you," he smiled at her._

She hiccupped. Naruto was hugging her. Lee was gently patting her on the back. Neji had looked away politely. They were all there for her. Gingerly she wrapped her arms around Naruto's torso and gripped into his orange windbreaker. And they understood…

"Capitan Yamato…Kakashi-sensei… I have a plan," Naruto said.

"Oh?" Kakashi sat himself up on the cracked table.

Naruto smirked. "You're not going to like it."

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed mildly, "That goes without saying. Now, what is it?"


	5. Double For Nothing

**This Chapter is dedicated to "****dragons chaotica****" and "****C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only****," who have both reviewed every single one of my chapters thus far. Thank you both.**

…

**Chapter 5**

**Double for Nothing**

Pain slowly turned his head. He had heard a thump. A quiet collision. In the tunnel. Now, an almost unheard ripple splashed against the entrance to the cave. Almost. "So, you finally arrived," he said.

A chuckle rumbled through the place. Its owner couldn't have been more than seventeen. No. Sixteen. The Jinchuuriki.

"Yeaaaah. I kind of thought it would be useless to try and sneak in here." A loud crack, and a glow-stick appeared at one end of the cave. A scramble, more splashing, and a boy waded the last few steps out of the water that pooled at one end of the cave. He was a boy of no particular stature, dressed in a sort of orange jumpsuit, with blond hair atop his head and, Pain could just make out by the glow, three pale whisker-like scars across both cheeks. He was rubbing his head with his free hand. He must have hit his head in the passage. That must have been what made the sound. Curious. And pathetic.

Behind him one…two…three… heads bobbed out of the water.

"You are the Hidden Leaf's Jinchuuriki." The boy didn't reply. The water dripped off of his clothes. The other three ninjas remained silent in the water. "Go away. I do not wish to capture you here."

The boy, however, did not go away. Rather, he took the final few steps out of the pool and shook his feet dry like an animal. His sandals made a squelching sound. "Would you believe me if I said I was kind of banking on that?"

Pain did not blink. "Why is that?"

"Because you would want to know why the hell I would come trooping in here?" His three companions now also emerged from the water and hovered a few steps behind him, standing close enough to the water's edge to withdraw in an instant, and standing close enough to the Jinchuuriki to pull him along with them. A curious team dynamics.

And an impudent brat.

"And you felt this would ensure your safety?"

"For now."

"For now." The phrase echoed about for a few moments. For now. "Well then, talk, as you risk so much for this audience."

"I'm gonna guess that you know that it's about Utakata?" Pain said nothing. "Right, well, we wanna borrow him."

Almost despite himself his eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "…borrow?"

One of the other figures shifted uncomfortably at the boy's side. Pain's eyes snapped onto him. Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja.

"Yeah, borrow," the boy said, drawing his gaze back again. "Here's what we want: we want you to lend us the Jinchuuriki Utakata until this time tomorrow. After that…" he took a shaky breath which mingled with that of the unconscious boy behind Pain, "…after that, you get the Bijuu, and we get the vessel." There was a noticeable intake of breathe behind him. Curious. It appeared that he had not discussed this plan of action with his team. What an idiotic child.

"If that is all, then we can, without any particular fuss, give you his corpse after the beast has been extracted."

"Yeah well, there's the issue of it being a corpse. See, we intend to kick the thing out and leave him _alive."_

For an instant curiosity nettled his mind. Extract the Bijuu and leave the Jinchuuriki alive? Impossible. A dilemma that had plagued the Ninja World for centuries. As far as he knew it had only been done once, and as the vessel had died that same night anyway it was impossible to judge whether the extraction had been successful in the long run. "I refuse."

Uzumaki Naruto winced infinitesimally. The boy needed to learn how to better control his emotions. "Why?"

"Why? Rather, why did you think such a ridicules request could possibly be granted?"

"…How many of you are there now? Hm? You, the Kisame guy, and two others, right? That's what we have down in Kabuto's book, plus the weird Tobi guy, who said he was a 'newbie' when we met him."

Pain rather sensed than saw Konan shift in the darkness of the cave behind him. Kabuto: Sasori's spy. The one who had betrayed Akatsuki. Uzumaki Naruto was foolish to mention his name here.

"Five of you." The number cut through Pain's musings. "And our info says there were ten of you at one time. You've been cut down by half and I'm willing to bet that pulling a Bijuu out of a Jinchuuriki isn't easy, even for ten S-class ninjas. I can imagine that it just royally_ sucks_ for five."

It was true that extractions were tedious and time consuming, but they were a necessary evil. "And you think you can do alone that which requires five of us, and you expect to have him _alive?"_

"I have a greater motivation than you do."

Another ripple went through Uzumaki Naruto's comrades. This time, however, it touched Pain as well. "…Oh? And what do you know of my motivation?" Wiser men would have flinched at his tone. But then, wiser men would have had the good sense not to enter the Akatsuki's hideout.

The Nine Tailed Fox Jinchuuriki seemed to be an utter idiot.

"Jack Shit," Uzumaki Naruto shrugged. "I only know one thing, and that is that no ambition of yours is worth tearing a ninja from her master."

"…Master?"

"That's right! This girl right here," the boy suddenly threw and arm back and clapped the person nearest him on the shoulder, "She's Utakata's student. And she's come to get him back! Because whatever a ninja is, he's nothing without his master's teachings!"

The girl, he saw now that he looked at her, was not a ninja. Or rather, a very poor one. She did not have the steel that the other three had, even the Jinchuuriki. However, she still stood there. Two idiots then.

Pain turned his attention once more onto the boy, his face still emotionless. "And who was your master then, to make you so passionate on the subject?"

Uzumaki Naruto straightened up suddenly, as if he was about to declare some famous name to the world, rather than the back-porch trainer that probably brought him up. After all, what ninja of any worth would train a Jinchuuriki?"

"My master is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, one of the three Legendary Sannin!"

A rustling of paper behind him. Konan had shifted.

Ah. That _ninja_ of worth. That explained so much.

Jiraiya-sensei. His own master. How ironic. He and the boy shared something. Pain looked at the child in a new light. Curious… so this was the sort of student Jiraiya-sensei would have been proud of…

_The Six Paths of Pain crashed down upon the rock as one, driving pikes into the fallen white-haired ninja. _

…How pathetic.

So, the boy did not yet know that his master, the man _without whose teachings he was nothing…_ He did not know that he, Pain, had killed their master a little over two weeks ago.

How very pathetic.

"I see." All was quiet but for the dripping of water off the ninjas' clothing. "Well then, student of a Legendary Sannin, I will enlighten you in a manner that your master will not be able to: my purpose is my name. Pain." The room of silent. Uzumaki Naruto did not speak. The child did not understand. "Despite the surplus time and effort it may take for us to seal the beast, I would not offer you a solution that goes so far against my own means and ends."

"…So…your reason for not giving Utakata back to us is that you think it'll make Hotaru happy?" His grip tightened around the girl's shoulders. He was trying to keep her from shaking.

Pain did not answer, but simply examined the girl. She was a pretty little thing. Not as esthetically beautiful as Konan, but then, no woman was. This girl was still very much a child, despite her obscenely large chest. Babyfat still laired her cheeks, her dark blond hair still had a frizz to it, and her green eyes might have been quite lovely if they were not so red-rimmed and seeped in desperation. This girl… she did not think of the Slug Jinchuuriki as merely her master in training. She regarded him as- "You're wrong."

Pain couldn't remember the last time someone had said that phrase to him and lived. He again fixed his Rinnegan on Uzumaki Naruto.

"You're saying that to give Utakata back to Hotaru would be to take away her pain, right? Well, try thinking of it as being able to give it again."

"…"

"Hotaru already felt the most acute pain you can feel when losing a loved one. She felt it… the day you took Utakata away. The day she found the crater where you fought. She knows that pain already. And nothing you can do… nothing_ I_ can do… can ever take that away from her. But say you give Utakata back to her. She'll be happier than she's ever been. And you probably think that your shitty little plans will all work out so…you can just kill him again, along with the rest of us. Double for nothing, see?"

"…You do not actually believe I will be successful."

"But you do. Sucker."

…So this was Jiraiya-sensei's other student. He almost seemed more of his son or grandson. However, the way his hair was arraigned, even the color it was almost like…

He was content to know that, by the light of the faint glow-stick, their faint eyes might not be able to pick up any similarities.

Jiraiya-sensei's pathetic student… sharing in his pathetic dream…

What exquisite pain he would feel when he would learn the truth – when this theory about loss would become a fresh, new reality and the news of death would arrive. Pain did not want to capture the Konoha Jinchuuriki quite yet. That was not part of his agreement with Madara. He had planned to capture the Jinchuuriki and invade Konoha in one fell swoop. But he did not want the boy's chakra all around here for Madara to come back and notice. He did not want to fight now. So… why not?

Why not accept the child's useless request?

Why not allow the boy the pleasure of striking deals with the man who murdered his master? Pain could just imagine the sickness that would go through this boy's frame a few days from now, perhaps a week, when he would finally learn the truth. When he would learn that he was in the same chamber as, and negotiated with, Jiraiya-sensei's killer – and did nothing.

"Very well. He's yours."

The silent shock that went though the cavern was like a volt. Behind him a piece of paper sounded as if it had torn in half – Konan's means of expressing astonishment. Curious. It had been a long time since anything had astonished her.

"…Naruto, Lady Hotaru," Hatake Kakashi spoke up now, never tearing his eyes away from Pain. Hm. So he _was_ the team leader. Why then had he allowed the boy to speak out so freely?

A curious team dynamics, to be certain.

"You will collect Utakata. He's at the other end of the cavern. Be wary of the other Akatsuki member hovering over him. Sai and I will wait here to back you up." So he had noticed Konan. Of course: the Sharingan.

He would have expected the Jinchuuriki boy to let go of the little girl now, if for no other reason than to walk in a manner that would allow easy defense or attack. But he did not. He began across the cavern with one arm still clamed around the girl's shoulder. Why? It was insulting. Surly he could not be so confident as to be certain that Pain would not change his mind and attack him.

Uzumaki Naruto did not know the reason that Pain would not attack him now. He did not know for certain the reason, whimsical as it was, that he now allowed the Slug Jinchuuriki from his sight. He did not know anything. He was an idiot. And yet he walked with a confidence and certainty that said he did not believe Pain would attack him. He seemed to say with every step – 'Trust me, if you've put up with me this long, you're gonna put up with me through the whole act. Really now. Take my word for it.'

He and the girl passed him without looking at him, their sandals squelching loudly with each step. All else was silent. For a moment the glow-stick that Uzumaki Naruto held in his free hand fell upon Pain's face. But they did not look. Fortitude mixed well with stupidity. He himself narrowed his eyes to slits and fixed them on Kakashi, who had been looking ahead and may have caught a gimps of him.

Funny. Had he seen the similarity? Doubtful. After all, he did not know of that curious bond of Masters which Jiraiya-sensei, Pain, and the Fox Jinchuuriki shared.

A rustling of paper. Konan must have gotten out of the way of the glow-stick just before it pooled over her. A small intake of breath. The Hotaru girl had caught sight of the Slug Jinchuuriki. The Fox boy made no attempt to cover his muttered curses. What made him so confidant? Was it really stupidity or was it…something more?

Again they passed him. This time the Hotaru girl was carrying the glow stick. Uzumaki Naruto had draped the other boy over his back. Again the light fell on his face. Again he kept his narrowed eyes fixed on Kakashi, curious for a reaction. Again there was none.

The group of now five reached their comrades. Hatake Kakashi then unclipped a devise that had been hanging from his green ninja vest. "This is a breathing mouthpiece. Put it in Utakata's mouth summon two shadow clones. They'll drag you along when need be. You concern yourself with keeping this thing in Utakata's mouth, and keeping his nose plugged." He said all of this in hushed order. _He_ did not dare disturb Pain's humor.

"Roger." Unlike this brat. In an instant two popping explosions punctuated the air and two clones of the Konoha Jinchuuriki had joined the party.

"Two days."

There was a splash. The two clones were already half way into the water. Hasty and reckless. "…Thanks."

"If the Bijuu is not here at this time in two days, I will find you all, and kill you. All…save for that girl." The girl named Hotaru blanched. "Uzumaki Naruto. You thought to play games with my ambitions, and so you used her and her love for her master as your example. I tell you now, if the Bijuu is not here in two days, I will kill you all, and I will make her watch as I one by one you succumb to my dream."

"…Right. That makes sense."

"If you kill the Jinchuuriki, and the Bijuu dies with him, or if you somehow extract it and it escapes from you-"

"I said I _got_ it."

"…You will bring it back personally."

The boy snorted. "Sure, whatever."

A splash. Seven more splashes. Ripples. They were gone.

…

"Sakura, Kakashi here. Over." … "Yes, we have him. We're coming out. Over."… "Drop it for now. He'll need your attention."… "Right. Over and out." The radio crackled and then died. Now there was just the rhythmic slurping of water against the stone walls and the heavy breathing all around them.

After the initial dip of rock the tunnel actually rose so that about a foot of it was above water and they could travel via-doggy paddle along most of the way. It was just that one slope before the exit. And, since they'd been traveling in the dark, like _ninjas _to _avoid detection,_ Naruto had cracked his head on it. And now he was going to have a bump. A big one. But, that wasn't his biggest problem. His biggest problem was the dead weight on his back. His clones swam around him making sure (now that they could use the glow-stick since they weren't hiding any more) that Utakata did not slide off of him and that his head remained above the water.

Stroke. Stroke. Splutter. Freakin' stroke! Really now, how long was this tunnel!?

As for what the weight on his back meant- That it meant that they had a chance- He wasn't thinking about that!

STROKE!

And stop. Or rather, wade. They had reached the end of the tunnel. Now was the tricky part. The entrance to the tunnel was practically at the bottom of the lake, which meant they were going to have to first swim down to the opening and then swim up to the surface. Kakashi-sensei had estimated that the given distance could easily drown an unconscious person who couldn't hold his own breathe. How the Akatsuki members had managed to get Utakata in here to begin with he didn't know. But then, since they had made the hideout, he supposed they had ways of getting in and out without dying either. Still all seemed like such a pain in the ass.

Naruto was thinking all of this as he tried to hold Utakata steady while one of his clones stuck the breathing devise into the vegetable's mouth. Ew. He was going to get spit all over his fingers. And oh joy, he was going to have to plug his nose. Spit and snot.

"Are you ready Naruto?" Sai and Hotaru had already vanished under the water. Kakashi-sensei was waiting for him. Naruto shifted around to hold Utakata awkwardly in his arm. He pinched the other boy's nose and then took a loud intake of air as an answer. Suddenly he felt two pairs of hands grab hold of his legs and tear him down underneath the surface of the water. It was all he could do to hold onto Utakata's nose.

It was in this manner that Uzumai Naruto was dragged out of the Akatsuki lair in the most undignified manner imaginable: basically swimming – being swum – backwards. His two clones were having a fantastic time 'accidently' kicking him as they swam at full speed down and up and out of that tunnel. His windbreaker was riding up his stomach and it would be a miracle if his forehead protector didn't slip off and OH CRAP Utakata's nostrils! No. All good. He was squeezing down on Utakata's nose hard enough to pop it clean off. Ha! Now wouldn't that be awesome. Keep the breathing thing in his mouth aaaand-

"What the hell are you bastards doing?! Why are you dragging me over _sand?!"_

It was thus that Naruto found himself on the beach, his two legs held high in the air by very gleeful clones, his pants half off, his belly barely scraping the sand, his windbreaker riding up over his face, obscuring his view entirely, and knowing only – from the raucous laughter coming from every direction – that he looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Naruto, cover yourself. You're shocking the ladies~" Kiba's voice drawled.

"FUCKING DISPEL!" With an 'oomph!' his feet hit the bank again and he scrambled to pull his windbreaker back over his torso and his pants back up over his boxers. They had a green leaf pattern! Nothing to be ashamed of! Freakin' patriotic!

…This was just another event to add his The Things He Would Never Live Down list.

When his vision righted, the first thing he saw was Utakata, still half submerged in the water, with Sakura and Hotaru leaning over him. "How is he?" he said, wanting nothing more than to get back in that water and wash the sand off his stomach and chest.

"Let's get him out of the water first." Sakura said. "I don't like what Neji said about the genjutsu on this lake. Naruto, if you need to bathe, please ask the help of one of your frogs." At any other time he would have argued. He _hated_ trying to get the frogs to play personal-shower to him. It was embarrassing! However, right now he was busy pulling Utakata back onto his back.

"To Yamato's camping-house?"

"Quite."

And they shot off into the forest, as if never to return.


	6. Till Sunset Do Us Part

**Chapter 6**

**Till Sunset Do Us Part**

He woke up feeling…alright. His entire body was numb, and yet… He felt alright…

"…_Sir Utakata…"_

He took in a shaky breathe. Air. Why was he alright? Was this…

"…_Sir Utakata."_

_Heaven?_ His eyes cracked open, almost despite himself. There… above his head… dusty blond hair just catching the light behind her that shone like a halo… and those… warm green eyes…_An angel?_ He cracked his lips open now. Dare he speak? Last time he had tried…. As if in answer, his head gave a furious throb. His thoughts became more scrambled than ever. She was so beautiful. She was familiar. He opened his mouth… a breath came out… and then… _"I'm ready…" …Take me… I'm ready…Heaven…Angel…_

"Sir Utakata," that loud, childish, wonderful voice broke through the fog in his mind as if the fog was a solid that voice broke right though blinked, and blinked again.

"…Hotaru?"

The tears spilled over her eyes and he came even more awake as they splattered onto his face. "Sir Utakata!" She leaned down and gathered him into her arms. Utakata felt her sliding her hands under his sides and spasmed from the mixed feeling of pain and… wonder. Was this really happening? Was she really here?

"H-Hotaru…" he gasped as she gingerly pulled him into an upright position flush against her. He could almost hear his joints creaking… And she was pressing against him so tightly… His broken ribs… And her heartbeat…His arm…She was rocking him now like a baby, sobbing…like a baby. Utakata drew another quaking breathe and blearily looked around. They were in… a cabin. They were alone… in a room… in a cabin. Despite his delirium he could just make out the voices down the hall.

_Enough thought. Just… just go with it…_

He tilted his face into the crook of her neck, and breathed in the scent of her hair. …She had bathed recently… her hair was moist… it smelled of his soap solution…

…

"Naruto!" Sakura stopped and looked about her. All she saw were the thick trunks of trees. had ordered her to find Naruto, they all needed to get a move on with the ritual or, from what Sakura understood, they would all be duly slaughtered, and the idiot of the hour was missing. Brilliant!

When they had all arrived back at the camping-house Sakura had Naruto lay Utakata down in a vacant room. She had then ordered Hotaru away. Grudgingly, she had to admit that the girl had behaved herself marvelously through the whole ordeal. Sakura had nearly thrown a fit back when Naruto, supported by Kakashi, had told her that, while Hotaru was going to infiltrate Pain's lair with Team Kakashi, she, Sakura, would stay behind to prepare for the ritual.

…It made sense. Hotaru was directly connected to Utakata. She could prove useful in getting him back. Sakura, meanwhile, would prove much more useful in taking the time to prepare the ritual, rather than simply acting as the extra bodyguard. That still did not mean that Sakura hadn't been about to punch a hole in a wall of Capitan Yamato's cabin at the news.

Anyway, with Utakata deposited and Naruto off to take his quick Toad induced Shower, Sakura had ordered Hotaru off as well. It was a rule of thumb not to have close relations in the room while she was looking to the injured. She had not allowed it with Kankuroduring the Gaara Rescue Mission and she was not about to allow it with Utakata. So, she had given Hotaru a task: to go and have Capitan Yamato fashion a wooden barrel for her out of a single piece of wood, and then to take herself to a secluded place, fill the barrel with her water justu, and take a bath.

The girl had let herself go far too much. Crisis was crisis, but cleanliness was cleanliness.

It was only after she, Sakura, had done everything she could for Utakata, fixing his arm in a cast, healing his ribs as best she could with her chakra, with all due ointments applied, that she allowed a now freshened Hotaru back into the room.

…And it almost broke her heart.

Perhaps it was simply because, for the last few days, Sakura had only seen Hotaru as a bedraggled lost child, but it seemed to her that Hotaru had now, for Utakata, put an extra effort into her appearance to look better and prettier than she had even a week ago when she had been living on her own estate.

…_A week ago._ Was that really all the time that had passed since The Forbidden Jutsu Mission?

"AAH! IT'S COLD, YOU BASTARDS! IT'S COLD!" Sakura's attention was snapped back from its wanderingjust as Konoha's Most Noisy Ninja, howling in protestation, tore through the underbrush and into her line of sight as he tried to escape a violent jet of water that one of his toad friends, Gamakichi, had sent after him.

Sakura and Naruto each other, and froze. Naruto was stark naked.

…

Kakashiwas leaning on the cracked table with such force that, but for the fingerless gloves he wore, the world would have seen his knuckles for the bleached white they were. "Naruto," he said in that calm voice which foretold stood before him. Or rather, he teetered before him, a massive bump on his head from when he had smacked himself against the cave wall, and another great black and blue circling under his eye from… actually, Kakashi rather not know.

His clothing was askew on him, as if he had dressed in a verygreat hurry. His hair was still sopping wet, as if he had not had time to towel it dry. And when Sakura had brought him into the room they'd both been scarlet in the face. The two now stood before him, both staring resolutely ahead, but neither quite looking at Kakashi, and certainly not looking at each other.

Momentarily, Kakashi closed his eye, trying to burn out the image that he accidentally recreated in his head of what must have happened. He told himself that he did not want to know how Naruto got his black and blue. The problem was he knew both Naruto and Sakura a little too well not to be able to hazard a good guess.

_What am I going to do with these two?_Right. He could worry about that after he figured out what he was going to do with _this one._ He opened his eye again, and fixed it on Naruto. Slowly Naruto met his gaze, and gulped.

"May I ask precisely what you were thinking?"

Naruto teetered. "Sir?"

"Our mission," Kakashi spoke through gritted teeth, "was to keep the Six Tailed Slug from falling into the hands of the Akatsuki. It was not to risk life and limb for a Rogue Ninja from Mist and strike deals with S-Class criminals." Naruto had, very vaguely, hinted at his plan before they all set out for the Akatuski hideout. He had said something to the effect of _'Jinchuuriki leverage,' _and _'element of surprise.'_And yes, he had mentioned _'bartering with Pain.'_It had all sounded very poorly constructed, and Kakashi hadn't really liked it (as Naruto had predicted), butKakashi had trusted him. Why? He couldn't remember now for the world. He had expected something mad from Naruto. But he had never expected…

"No, sir," Naruto said.

With a jerk of his head Kakashi cracked his neck. Loudly. "…NO?"

"Kakashi-sensei, Grandma Tsunade didn't actually order us to get the Slug."

"Cut through the rubbish Naru-"

"_Your mission is to find Utakata of the Hidden Mist and take him back from his kidnapers._ Those were Grandma Tsunade's orders. You weren't there for them. You'd left about a second before. But those were her orders, Kakashi-sensei. Sai can confirm that if you want him to!" Naruto said, staring obstinately at a spot on the wall just behind Kakashi's left shoulder.

Kakashi's jaw, which had been taught to the grinding of teeth a moment before, now dropped so utterly that, but for his mask, it might as well have come clean off.

"She never said anything about retrieving the Slug, sir."

…_Really now, what am I going to do with you. _

"Naruto, I'd love to spend about three hours now just reading you your rights, tearing out your innards and then forcing you through the most violent and soul shredding training that MorinoIbiki, our head of the Torture and Interrogation Force, could come up with." Naruto turned deathly pale. The bruise under his eye seemed fringe a sickly yellowish. _'Barter with Pain,'_ Indeed. Kakashi was not naive. He knew the prices that such'barter' might had both expected disaster and expected success. But he had thought that, at the very least, Naruto would follow regulations far enough to barter for the Slug. He had never even suspected that Naruto would barter _with _the Slug. Naruto had, effectively, promised to speed up the Akatsuki's work. He had promised them what they needed. He had promised to_ help_them. And yet he had not done wrong. Kakashi knew that. He had trusted Naruto. He still trusted Naruto.

The game had changed. The playing field was different. The bloody _goals _were different.

The prospects of what was now on the line made Kakashi livid. Surly there must have been a better way of going about this. Surly they could have come up with something that did not involve the potential slaughter of two Hidden Leaf four-man-cells and torture of a civilian girl, and for what?! Not for the security of the Five Great nations. Not for the Bijuu. For the life of one Hidden Mist missing nin. And yet, Naruto was not wrong. And yet, if it had been Naruto in the clutches of the Akatsuki, would Kakashi have acted any differently? Would he not gladly trade the Kyubi for the host? Of course he would have. …It was at a time like this that Kakashi missed working with Shikamaru. _He_ would have come up with something._Damn._

…The fact of the matter was there was no other way. The fact of the matter was that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki who had talked to the Leader of Akatsuki and walked off alive and with a fellow Jinchuuriki, also still alive, snugly slung over his back. The fact of the matter was that Kakashi knew that, at this moment, Naruto was keeping his cool better than he himself was and felt the game better than he himself did. The fact of the matter was… that sort of pissed him off.

He took a deep breath. _Calm._ "You're orders-" It was amazing how the wobbling wet blob of an idiot could suddenly, at that once phrase, straighten up and become a full fledge ninja. Just moments ago Kakashi had been silently asking himself: _Why did I trust him? _The answer, as it always did, now came back and slapped him in the face. _Because he's Naruto._

He deflated a little.

"Sakura."She had retreated to the window sill. Now she too took on her own weight again. They were fine ninjas, whatever he said. It was bizarre… just watching them now, as they grew, and they had grown… the rage was replaced with confidence. Truly, the students had become the backbone for the teacher. "Since we havegained one extra day, you will now make use of it. You are to take Naruto to a secluded spot where you can train him to to thin his chakra to the point to veins and blood vessels. Naruto, you have till sunset. Don't go too far. Report back here. We will begin. Dismissed!"

Naruto and Sakura saluted him in due fashion, and darted out of the window.

"…You're going soft, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashifinally unclenched his fingers from the table. Flexing them, he ran them through his hair. "Hehe, you think so, Tenzō?" He had felt Yamato's presence. He half turned his head and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the man's face molding out of the side of the wooden wall.

Yamato's head turned a little to the side, and the entire man stepped out of the wall. "So, what's bothering you now?"

"Aside from the fact that this time the day after tomorrow we could all be dead?"

"Aside from that."

Kakashi eased his hand out of his hair and let it fall back to the table with a 'thunk.' "I don't know… Maybe I'm reading too much into it…But there was something… strange about that man. Pain."

Yamato snorted, as if to say 'obviously.' Yamato had once worked under Kakashi in ANBU. Although, back then, his codename had not been 'Yamato.' It had been 'Tenzō.' And now they were fellow team captains. Peers in distress.

Kakashi didn't react, but just stared at the crack that Naruto had made in the table. "…You know, if I didn't know better, I would have said that he let us take Utakata on a whim… on a personal whim… some kind of… vendetta…"

"How do you figure that?" Yamato asked, now leaning against that same table.

"…By the light of that glow-stick…I couldn't get a look into his eyes. They were almost slits. But I could have _sworn…"_ he trailed off. Finally, tearing his eyes from the crack, he looked his old student in the face, "I could have sworn there was a resemblance between him and Naruto."

Yamato raised an eyebrow in shock.

"The face… the hair… And something beyond that. In that brief second, by the sight of the Sharingan, I almost thought that they had the same _stance,_ as if they had learned from the same…"

"You're right," Yamato said, clasping his old team capitan on the shoulder, "You're reading way too much into it." He smirked. "Naruto' more powerful every day, still a goofball and a klutz and he's not about to become a Pain." He shook Kakashi's shoulder a little. "So relax. And when we get back to Konoha, we can all go to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar."

"Your treat."

"EH!?"

…

Naruto traveled a couple of branches behind Sakura, trying to take a few privet moments to straighten himself out. _Okay, my shirt's fine now, the windbreaker isn't catching inside my pant pocket, I'verebuckled by sandals properly – check, check and check and… Crap. My boxers are on backwards…and inside out… Maybe I can just…_

"Nartuo!"He nearly tripped on a branch when Sakura barked back at him. "Stop dawdling and get up here! We need to talk."

Truth be told, he was even more scared of Sakura than he had been of Kakashi, and that Ibikicomment had been pretty terrifying. "Y-Yes, Sakura-chan?" He spluttered, stumbling over himself to catch up to her.

She barely acknowledged his presence, but continued to look dead ahead. "Chakra Form Manipulation. You practiced it before with Lord Jiraiya when you were preparing your Rasengan, correct?"

"Yeah," he offered meekly.

Sakura nodded curtly. "Good. This is far enough." With that she took herself from the trees and to the forest floor. "I don't want any distractions and with your luck Kiba will come around the house and you two'llstart mucking about as usual. So," she turned to him, "Naruto, I'm going to explain to you some of the finer points of the ritual we're going to be performing tonight," she said as she straightened up from the crouch she had landed in, and dusted off her knees.

Naruto's face fell. He had never been good with long and complicated explanations.

Sakura, when she didn't hear him voice a response, looked up and, despite her earlier indignation, was completely unable to stop the giggles that now knocked through her at the expression on his face.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's so funny!?"

"N-nothing," she hiccupped, dabbing at her eyes with her knuckle. "Now," she said, doing her best to straighten her face, "Naruto," she said, "about this extraction process-"

"Ah! Ya, ya, ya! When do I begin training?!" he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"You don't." He seemed to freeze in mid bounce. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Kakashi-sensei, because I didn't want anything to dissuade him from your plan to get Utakata back. He seems to have taken the whole thing badly enough as it is. But really, you _don't _Naruto. I reviewed Harusame's notes. There is no way that you can do what is required."

A stray breeze rustled through the trees and tussled their hair. They stood alone. And the world was silent.

"You simply don't have the medical ninjutsu."

She saw as his hands curled into fists. The determination was being fed into an inferno in his eyes. She smirked.

That did it.

"Like I care!" he blurted out, "I'll find a way! I'll do it myself! Just _teach_ me and I can-"

"_We'll_ do it."

Again, silence. "Eh?"

The smirk on her face turned into a smile. She loved riling Naurto up like this, even when they were in the midst of peril as they were now. And she as good at it too. But most of all… most of all, she loved the feeling of being useful to him.

"You'll find theSlug's chakra and wrap your own around it. I'll perform the medical ninjutsu to extract it."

Naruto's jaw fell. "…Sakura." She grinned the winder. However, in the next moment, Naruto was shaking his headvigorously. "It's too dangerous! The Slug might come out again. Harusame was one thing, but you-"

"Do you want another black-and-blue eye to match the one you have?"

"No."

"Good~"

A moment passed. Then neither of them could help it. They grinned at each other.

"So…" Sakura said, "let's set to work."

…

Sai skimmed over the trees, wondering if he hadn't missed them already. _No,_ he rationalized,_Capitan Kakashi said they were not to go far. And I have been traveling for… for some while._

He ought to hurry. The sun was sinking fast. And Capitan Kakashi had told him to bring Sakura back to camp so that she could lay the final touches on the ritual site.

Sai was the final member of Team Kakashi and, like Yamato, had not been a member of the original Team 7. He had been UchihaSasuke's replacement. And yet… and yet he no longer felt like a replacement. He had truly become one of the team. Even now, half a year later, he marveled at it.

He launched himself off the next branch.

Sai was a year older than Naruto and Sakura, deathly pale, and with thin black hair. Originally, before he had joined Naruto's team – before his life and his ideals had been turned on his head as, he had heard, all lives and ideals had a way of doing when coming into contact with Naruto – he had been a part of Root, a now technically disband subdivision of Konoha's ANBU, led by the late Third Hogake'sgreatest rival, Danzō Shimura, a great and terrible man.

He launched off another branch. He was nearly there now, he was sure.

He had been enlisted into Root at an early age, and had there been groomed, if one could call it that, for a life of serves to the Hidden Leaf. A life without emotions. Root believed that emotions hindered the execution of the mission. So, no emotions. No regrets. No joys. And no loyalty.

Only the order, the target, and the trash that got in the way. That was how he had seen Nartuo at first. That was how a lot of people saw Naruto at first. Sai felt his lips quirk upward a little at the thought. It was still so strange to him… the quirk of his lips… happening for no apparent reason… only that… he felt nice.

Danzōhad originally ordered Sai onto Team Kakashi because, at the time, the team had had a lead on UchihaSasuke's location. Sai's mission had been to find UchihaSasuke and, on his own, to kill him, plugging the dike there and then, and not allowing the Rouge Ninja to wander free or serve Orochimaru any longer.

There was the order. There was the target. And there was Naruto. Naruto… who thought of Sasuke as a , who made Sai remember his own brother in arms, who had died. Naruto, whose loyalty to Sasuke, even after everything the later had done – or rather, not done – confused Sai to no end.

Naruto… whose dream was so large and wholesome it could not help engulf all those around him… so that it became their dream as well… Sai's dream.

Sai stopped short on a last branch. There were his team mates and… what _were_ they doing?

Down belowNaruto was standing with his hands outstretched before him, yet not so outstretched that Sakura, who was standing right behind him – _flush _behind him – couldn't reach forward and lace her fingers through his. …And they were just standing like that, and the only movement either of them made was Naruto who, every few moments, would flex and unfelx his fingers, around which Sakura's were ever laced.

…Was this what was called 'a privet moment.' Sai cocked his head to the side. After meeting NarutoSai had come to the conclusion that being without emotions was a disadvantage rather than an advantage. It had cost him a terrible pain to the jaw when Sakura had first given him a fake smile, and then a punch to the face. So, to rectify the situation, and unbeknown to Danzō, Sai had turned to reading up about emotions in books. He had one such book in his pack at the very moment. And he had read about just such a scene in his book! However, if his assumption was correct, and if Naruto and Sakura were indeed having 'a private moment,' then Sai would have given anything in the world for a camera here and now.

However, not having the camera, he had a dilemma. Did he approach Naruto and Sakura, supposedly catching them 'in the act,' risking the wrath of Sakura, or did he go back, his message undelivered, and risk the wrath of Capitan Kakashi?

…He had just turned his back on them when, with all the lack of subtlety that was inherent in him, Naruto hollered "SAI!" Sai wondered just how many broken bones this was going to cost him. Emotions were such difficult things.

"Naruto, concentrate!" That was Sakura.

Sai turned back to his team mates, armed and ready with his fake smile which, apparently, never fooled anyone. "Naruto! Sakura!" he waived stiffly at them. There were so many gestures that were supposed to go with greeting someone. He hoped he wasn't forgetting anything this time.

"What's up with you!?" Naruto yelled up at him. "Why'd you come spy on us and then just leave?!" While Naruto may have meant it as just an affronted accusation, Sai heard it as a member of Root, and swallowed.

"N-No! It's not like that!" he said, finally jumping off of his tree, landing in front of his friends. _Friends._ "I simply did not want to interrupt your privet moment, as I had read about it in a book."

"Eh? You read about something like me and Sakura?!" Naruto was all aglow.

"Y-Yes," Sai said, straightening up. He couldn't let them think he was a spy. He wasn't! At least… not right now. He was… he was their friend. And so, he hurried on to explain himself. "I was reading this book about this woodsman who… what was it? He 'stole from the poor and gave to himself.' No… that's not it… Anyway! There was a lady whom he was in love with, and at one point she came into his forest – he lived in the forest – and she lived with his merry men. I don't know why they were so merry, but anyway! There was a _scene _in the story, where he is teaching his lady archery! And he stood just like that behind her, and wrapped his hand around hers and put his face in her hair and directed her bow, and that was what you reminded me of! Except… you know… with Sakura as the woodsman and you as the lady." Sai swallowed.

Silence reigned supreme. Then a look of sheer rapture overtook Naruto's face and he turned to a very sour looking Sakura. "You put your face in my hair!?~"

…

Utakata suppressed a shudder as he looked around him. Yamato had found a clearing close to their camp. It was not very large, but it would serve their purposes. Yamato then, following Hatusame's sketches and Sakura's directions, had grown in a circle, sixteen rectangular trunks out of the earth, all different sizes and all different widths apart, and there was one horizontal plank across two of the vertical beams. Utakata knew there was method to his old master's diagrams and he would not question it. Not now.

While the original blue prints had said stone should be used, Yamato had grown the ritual site out of Ironwood. After all, it was the very wood he used in the First's ritual to suppress the Nine Tailed Fox in Naruto. It would have to do.

And now Utakata stood looking upon a replica of the place where he had killed his master. He teetered.

"Master, are you alright?" He looked down to Hotaru, who was bracing his weight. To feel her there, so close to him, and to know that she was with him again… He could not even fathom what she had been through after he had been taken. He had hoped that she would wake up, perhaps go back to her village… forget about him. He hadn't even considered that she would go to Konoha. And with such speed! The way she had reacted… truly, he had underestimated her as a ninja and as a friend. Just as he had underestimated her when he had confessed to her that he was a Jinchuuriki. A knot formed in his throat, and he nodded. Already the master was indebted to his student for life.

"Ya, I'm fine. …Let's go a little closer."

As they reached the rim of the ritual site they saw, in the center of the ring of trunks, a stage. Utakata's mouth went very dry. The stage was made of two platforms, one on top of the other. The firsts was in the shape of a four leaf clover, puckering out on all sides. The slate on top of it was a rectangle, and fitted into the clover perfectly. …There were no chains on this stage, as had been on the one Utakata had been bound to. Again, Yamato had had to make do with ironwood restraints.

At the moment the platform looked a little less threatening then Utakata remembered it. That was a comfort, even if he suspected that it was partly due to the fact that he was now seeing it by daylight rather than the red ritual glow, and partly due to the fact that at this moment Sakura was using it as a desk, papers strewn all over it. As they approached she looked up.

"Sir Utakata! What do you think you're doing up?!" she said, leaving her table immediately. "Lady Hotaru, I'm surprised at you! I told you that you could tend to him, but this is just completely unac-"

"Sakura," Utakata drawled, a touch of color returning to his face at the conflict.

"What?!"

"You need a dome over this thing," he said, pointing to the sky and at the same time gripping the harder into Hotaruto keep his balance. He heard her give a sharp intake of breath. Had he pressed too hard on her shoulder?

Sakura blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

He focused his attention back on Sakura. "When my master… when he was performing the ritual… extraction…thing… There was a dome overhead."

Sakura looked hard at him for another moment, turned around and walked back to the platform, and began reshuffling through her notes. "But it doesn't say-"

"I demanded that Hotaru bring me here," he said, at the same time urging Hotaru with a nudge to continue her walk forward so that they could near the table, "so that I could help out with any last touches being, as I am…" he faltered. _It's because of the pain shooting up my side,_ he told himself, "the sole survivor of the last attempt at this ritual."

Sakura looked up at him again, surprise evident on her face, _"Sole_ survivor? You make it sound as if-?

"There were six men, other than myself and my master, arraigned at intervals between the boulders," Utakata interrupted, nodding at the circle of trunks around them. "I'm not sure what they were for. I think they were just a guard. ANBU. I think." He fell silent. And Sakura did not catch that silence fast enough so, for a moment, it settled between them. Utakata swallowed again, refusing to meet Hotaru's eye. Meanwhile her hand subconsciously tighten on his shirt.

He had been given to wear a spare outfit of one of the Konoha ninjas, his own kimono having been nie turned to rags. Again he felt something shoot up his side, though this time… it hadn't quite been pain so much as… _She is your student. Don't be disgusting. _"You need a dome," he repeated, blocking out his own thoughts.

Sakura looked up at him again, but not longer with crossness or suspicion. She only nodded. "Here," she beckoned him. "Come over here. I want you to look at these notes and offer corrections wherever they're needed. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can go back to the cabin and lie down. You've got a rough night in front of you."

He nodded. However, despite the resolution in his walk as he fought the pain in his body, Utakata's heart gave an aching throb at the sight of his old master's handwriting, copied perfectly with Kakashi'sSharingan, over every page strewn on that platform, identical to the one on which he had killed Hatusame.

_Master, you gave up your chance for life… for me._ It was now his turn to grip onto Hotaru all the more tightly again. _I promise I will not squander the gift you left me._

"You need another horizontal plank over these two beams here," he pointed with his free hand.

…

"Hotaru…" Hotaru was looking out of the window. After he had corrected all that needed correcting at the ritual site, Sakura had sent Utakata back here, with instructions for him to use Naruto's sleeping bag for comfort. She hadn't even bothered answering when Hotaru asked if she ought to ask Naruto's permission first. And now they were back in the cabin which Capitan Yamato had built. And sunset was fast approaching. It terrified him. And yet all he could do was stare at the effect it had, splashed across her hair. She turned to look back into the room.

"Yes, Master?"

A knot formed in his throat. "I think it's time to go." He saw in her eyes that she had not needed the reminder. He saw his own fear reflected back at him. And he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Hotaru," he smirked, "I couldn't run away, even if I wanted to. Look at me. I can barely stand by myself."

She blanched, and bit her lip. Why did he notice that? That was easy enough to answer. He was because of what he had realized back when he had taken The Forbidden Jutsu from her back."It's just that…"

"How far would I get?" he asked, now turning his gaze from her to the sunset. "How far did I get after my first crime? After I killed my master? Hotaru… if I ran now, not only these men in red clouds, but also Konoha would be after my skin."

"I don't want to lose you again!" she blurted out. And she was gripping onto the windowsill as if it was all she could do from throwing herself on him. No. That was just his imagination… He smiled and looked her in the eyes. They were red rimed. Damn. She had been crying. How much? How long? "I don't want to be lost again either."

The silence between them was heaving with the thousand things they could not say.

There was a knock on the door. Hotaru looked back out of the window, but not fast enough for Utakata not to catch the glimmer welling up in her eyes. "Come in," he said hoarsely.

In walked a ninja he had only seen a week ago, by whose side he had fought, and because of whom he had seen the error of his ways…seen what the worth of a master was… and had finally accepted Hotaru. Before him stood UzumakiNaruto. Utakata smirked.

"A massive bump on your head and a bruise under each eye. You look like a raccoon."

Naruto smirked thinly at him. "Long time no see to you too, bastard, even if you_ are_ in my sleeping bag." The sun dipped below the horizon as he spoke. Naruto had come to fetch them. It was time.


	7. The Quiet Before the Storm

**Chapter 7**

**The Quiet Before the Storm**

From the moment that Naruto had heaved Utakata's limp body out of the water of that wretched lake and hauled him off to the cabin site, Kakashi's brain had been thrown into overdrive. And the range of emotions was _terrifying. _However, by the time he dismissed Naruto and Sakura to their training in the forest Kakashi had resigned himself to the fact that these were the cards he had been dealt, and play he must, or God help them all.

"The next question is, of course, where do we contain the Slug once we've extracted it?" he asked no one in particular as he leaned back against an outer wall of the cabin. Neji and Tenten were sitting on the 'lawn' as Kiba had jokingly called it. They were all now preparing for battle - incase things went badly. Which, honestly, seemed all too likely. Tenten was sharpening her weapons. Lee was not far off terrorizing some poor tree with his kicks. Neji was meditating. Kiba had gone off to find 'a branch to chew so that the teeth'd stay sharp.' Whether the branch was for him or for Amakaru, no one had asked. However, they were all occupied. So, it was only Tenten that broke away from what she was doing to look up and give Kakashi her attention at this question. Neji continued to sit with eyes closed and legs crossed. However, Kakashi sensed that he now had his attention as well.

"What about the kettle idea Naruto was throwing around earlier?" Tenten offered. "It worked for Gaara's Bijuu, Shukaku. Why not Utakata's?"

"I'm afraid that the kettle wasn't entirely _ordinary._ Or rather, we can't assume that it was. The Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand may be on friendly terms with each other now, but that does not mean that they are willing to open all of their books to us. They guard their secrets. And, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, no secret is better guarded than that which relates to the Jinchuuriki," Kakashi answered, his mind unintentionally meandering back to his little experience in the Hidden Mist. He suppressed a shudder, and plowed forward. "Though the Hidden Sand boasts to have suppressed the One Tailed Beast into a mere kettle, I'm afraid we can't take their word that there wasn't more to the procedure. We simply don't know enough about transferences into inanimate objects. Also, even if we knew Gaara could hand over the information despite the objections of his councilors, we're a little short on time now."

There was a heavy silence after this. Everyone would have been all too happy if the solution to at least one of their problems could have been as simple as a piece of crockery. Tenten exhaled heavily through her cheeks and busied herself with her weapons again, thinking hard. Kakashi turned to leave them. He'd hoped that perhaps the students would see their way through to an answer the teacher had not. He would have to come up with something after all. Only, he was drawing a blank, and time was running out.

"…Then what about an animate object?"

"Sorry?" Kakashi said, turning back to look at Neji who, having at last opened his opaque eyes, now fixed in turn on Kakashi.

"An animate object," Neji repeated. With no elaboration whatsoever. Fantastic.

Kakashi's forehead creased. "Neji, if you're suggesting that we find the Bijuu another host, only to hand_ him_ over to the Akatsuki a few hours later, I don't see that happening."

Neji did not stiffen with his usual pride or aloofness. In fact, he actually seemed to be struggling with whatever it was he was thinking. "Yes and no," he answered with unfaltering ambiguity. Then, just as abruptly he hurried on, though that may have been partially to alleviate the look of absolute alarm that spread over Tenten's face as she incredulously looked up from her weapons again. "…In the aftermath of Sasuke's desertion, I was cut through my left flank with a javelin-like weapon by Kidomaru. It was a severe enough wound that there was a large hole left in my body. The javelin took quite a bit with it. It came very close to my heart, and tore through much of my shoulder muscles…"

"Yes?" Kakashi couldn't see where this was going.

"The medic nins stitched me up so seamlessly, that not only do I still now have the function of my left arm, but there is hardly even a scar on the place of the injury. Nie seamless."

"And?"

Neji swallowed, almost imperceptibly. "If they can grow bone, tendon and muscle in a matter of hours, why not a body?"

For the second time that day Kakashi was glad his mask concealed the dropped jaw he was now sporting. "You want to_ breed_ a Jinchuriki?" The statement sounded even more lunacies when he said it out loud.

Kakashi's incredulity seemed to have finally pricked at Neji's pride, and he rose to defend his argument. "Not a person, obviously," he snapped back, one Jounin to another. "Just a body. Meat, organs, flesh, all hanging together. I'm not suggesting we create _life_. Just something that can contain the creature until we deposit it." He looked from Kakashi to Tenten and back to Kakashi. "You yourself said that we can only hold the beast if we know what we're sealing it into. Well, a body is as well practiced a vessel as it gets."

And once again, silence. Kakashi held Neji's gaze a moment longer, and then looked away. "Sai!" he called up at the roof of the cabin.

"Yessir." Sai's head poked over the edge of the roof, where he'd been sitting while he made his own preparations, drawing up an army of reserves into his giant scrolls. He'd heard everything, of course. "Go and get Sakura for me, will you? I need her to make some final touches to the ritual site, where Yamato's working. I'll meet you both there."

"Yessir," Sai answered, rolling up his scroll with whatever lethal weapon he had been drawing on it for later, and launching off into the trees.

Kakashi turned away from Neji and Tenten. He could _feel _Neji's gaze boring a hole into the back of his head. Almost despite himself he made some sort of acknowledgment to them. "I will consult Sakura on this." And with that he too darted off, making his way to the glade they had chosen for the ritual.

**...**

Sakura blinked at him. "You want to do _what?" _she said in shock as the two stood by the platform that she was currently using as a desk.

"Of course," Kakashi cut in quickly, "I thought it was a useless idea. And even if it could work, the ethical distortions are positively hair-raising. But I'm truly grasping for anything at this point, so I had to run it by you nonetheless."

"No-" Sakura cut in. "No, that's not the problem. I mean, what I'm _trying _to say," she elaborated as Kakashi gave her a slightly alarmed look, "is that it is possible to make a body without making a person. At least technically. We grow limbs and organs all the time. A difficult procedure, but a common one. I don't see why, in theory, we couldn't do it here… only stitch all of the limbs and organs together."

"But wouldn't the body be alive?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura shrugged with all of the professional certainty of her work. "Well, yes, technically. In the way that a limb or an organ is alive when we grow them. But not alive like a person, no. A sack of flesh and bones, all pumping together. However, if we do manage to get the Slug into this makeshift body we'd then have to hand him over to the Akatuski very soon after. The medics in the Hidden Leaf only make such extensions as they're needed. We can't exactly store them – limbs and organs that is. Neji was already on the brink of death when Shizune operated on him. We wouldn't want our makeshift body to die, and for the Bijuu to then run rampent. The Akatuski wouldn't take that very well I don't suppose."

For a few moments Kakashi just stared in awe at his former student. "Right," he said promptly after. "Sakura, I want you to send a letter back to Konoha. Get together a band of your most trusted medics, and get them out here, double time."

"Y-yessir, Kakashi-sensei. But if I may ask, why not write to the Hokage? I'm sure she has greater resources than I do."

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "And you think she'd approve of what we're doing? Gift-wrapping the Slug for the enemy? No. And I'm afraid that, at this point, we've gone a little too far to turn back."

Sakura swallowed. She could see his point. "I'll get Ino here immediately."

**...**

Half the day was gone. Tensions were rising. More and more often members of the team found themselves looking to the skies to see whether or not there was an approaching ninja in the trees. Kiba had positively chewed a stick to shreds. It had been hours since Sai had called Sakura back from her training with Naruto hours ago and Utakuta had come and gone and made whatever corrections to the dome that needed to be made.

...And then they came.

Sakura could have kissed Ino when she saw that streak of blond catch the late afternoon sun. With eight consecutive thumps, Yamanaka Ino and the other seven ninjas with her landed hard in the clearing, and rose to their full highs as one.

Ino and Sakura had... a difficult relationship. It was one that involved the best of friendships, boys, and betrayals. Ino had taken up medical practice so as not to fall behind Sakura in any way. Sakura herself had actually trained her. The two were forever in rivalry with one another. During their first Chunnin Exam they had actually simultaneously knocked each other out, so ardent was each not to allow the other to get ahead. Of the two Ino was certainly the more esthetically beautiful. With a muscular yet still feminine figure, perfect proportions to her face, a mane of blond hair and shocking blue eyes, it was sometimes all Sakura could do to reminder herself that she, Sakura, was still the superior medic. However, Ino was, admittedly, not far behind. And now, when Sakura needed someone she trusted so badly, she called on Ino.

"'Sup, Forehead-Girl?" Ino smirked at Sakura, casually throwing out the usual insult that she had for Sakura, knowing as she did how self-conscious the later was about her own physique. Sakura felt a blood-vessel burst. All too easily, as usual.

"You wanna start something, Ino-Pig?" she said, closing the distance, but for a necessary fist, which she held up between them threateningly.

Ino smirked. "Bring it."

"Sakura-san, please, don't fight." Sakura's attention was taken from Ino to one of the others who had arrived with her – a girl who now stood on her direct right. She had violet hair and the opaque eyes of her clan and family: the heir to the Hyūga household, and Neji's younger cousin, Hinata Hyūga.

"Ah…Hinata. What are you doing here?" Sakura blinked.

"You didn't write much, but you said to get ninjas whom we could trust," Ino interjected. "I figured Hinata's as trustworthy as it gets. She may not be a complete medic like you, but she's studied the ninjutsu, and she's very good as you know. Isn't that right, Hinata?" Ino turned back to flash a smile at her shy friend.

Hinata bowed her head slightly, "I am honored to be held in such regard. Please, Sakura-san, you said that time was of the essence. What will you have us do?"

Sakura closed her eyes, and composed herself. "Right," she said stepping back from her companion. "Let's get you debriefed and on to work. We've got a bit of a crisis on our hands and we're short on time."

Just like that Ino straightened up, her team mimicking her motion. They were ninjas. They came to attention at the word 'debriefing.'

"Shoot," she said. "We did get here as fast as possible."

Sakura sighed. "I'm gonna warn you now. The situation... it's not exactly normal."

**...**

Naruto closed his eyes... and concentrated. Sakura had gone off with Sai to touch up the ritual site. He was getting in some last minute practice. It wouldn't be long now. He knew he couldn't train for the extraction. He didn't have the ninjutisu. However, what he had to practice was to clear his mind... to allow Sakura's chakra to flow over his own, and direct him... to sense his own Bijuu chakra, so that he would be more attuned to sense Utakata's when the time came...

He inhaled deeply, and allowed his mind to ease through the rustling of the tee tops about him, and the sound of the forest at large.

A water droplet clanged against a metal pipe. Naruto's eyes flew open.

_"It'll never work,"_ a very old, familiar voice growled. Naruto was no longer in the forest. He was in a large, seemingly underground piping system. He himself now stood on the floor of a giant horizontal pipe, his feet suddenly up to the ankles in water. And there, with only the great gate that had always been there between them, and had always been held shut by the paper "SEAL" placed upon it, just twenty feet from him now, was his Bijuu. The Nine-Tailed Fox. Kyuubi.

Naruto sensed his presence in the semi darkness more than he saw it. The Nine-Tails seemed to snort in the shadows. "How do you plan to control _his_ Bijuu when you can't even control me." It was one of the things that always got to Naruto most... He _knew_ that this was not a real place, but one that had been formed by the power that the Fourth Hokage had used to bind the Kyuubi to him... He _knew _that... but it still always got to him.

_The smell of the place always got to him. ...It was so real. _

"Shut up," Naruto growled, and turned away from the fellow resident of his body. His feet sloshed as they moved through the water. "I'll prove you wrong," he said, his voice echoing off the high walls of pipe-work. "I always do."

_"Huh. Always, except when it truly counts," _growled the giant fox. Perhaps it was Naruto's imagination, but he always imagined that he could hear those nine tails swishing around in the stagnant air, somewhere in the blackness beyond that gate._ "Why delude yourself? You couldn't save Sasuke. And you won't save this one either. You poor, delusional, pitiful-"_

"Naruto?" Sakura landed behind him, and Naruto snapped back around. She gasped.

Gone was the dimly lit piping, gone was the water, and gone was the fox. Except for...

The red chakra that had begun to swell around him died, but Naruto could see by the look on Sakura's face that his eyes were still red, and his pupils slitted. He looked away, and blinked it out.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Went a little too deep."

"Naruto... maybe we shouldn't do this. Maybe we should stop. If it's really this dangerous... You know I don't want to lose y-"

"Was there something you needed, Sakura-chan?" Naruto continued to look down at the ground.

"...I came to go over our routine one last time. ...The dome's ready."

Naruto stayed silent. After a moment he looked back up at her. "Then let's do that then," he said, confidant that his eyes were once again a clear blue.

**...**

No part of Ino could believe that she was actually doing this. Not only was she aiding the Akatsuki capture of a Jinchuuriki, but she was doing it because _Sakura_ had asked her to. Sakura. Not some hot-shot boy who could at least give her something for her troubles. (Not that she'd even have done it then.) No. Sakura. And all that fat-forehead could give her in return was a guaranteed suspension from her team at best and expulsion from the ninja ranks at worst. One way or another, they were all going to end up in front of Tsunade, and thinking about that alone made death seem like a surprisingly nice option.

Infront of her, meanwhile Yamato was pulling another dome into the sky. He wasn't making this one of ironwood, as its purpose was not to restrain a Bijuu. No, this dome would require attention to detail over sheer mass and endurance. Now, it was true that upon realizing that he was going to have to build a _second _dome for the creation of a 'vegetable Jinchuuriki,' the poor man almost passed out on the spot. However, with Ino now supervising, he was now working as fast as though his life depended. Which, to be fair, it did.

Yamato clasped his hands together, conjuring in his mind the diagram that Ino had drawn up for him from her own medic studies. A four pointed star into which the medic nins would then seal their chakra with a green seal, and at the center of which they would conduct their task. Yamato was literally creating a make-shift operating table. Nothing could be out of place. Sheets of sweat were pooling off of him. It wasn't the amount. He could create an entire ravine in an afternoon if he put his mind to it. No. It was the detail. The detail, which he knew, could make or break them all in this mad plan of theirs.

"I really hope this works!" he growled into his woodwork which cracked and snapped through the air like thunderclaps as he pushed this second dome further into the sky.

"Come on, Captain Yamato!" Ino called out, interrupting his thought, half with encouragement and half with urgency. "We've got to have this thing up by sundown! They're gonna need the body ready and on hand when they pull that Bijuu out!" She couldn't really believe what she was yelling. It all sounded like some bad scifi-ninjutsu-novel. Like something Jiraiya would write. Except there were no hot orgies at the end of this adventure. _We are all so dead,_ she concluded, peering up at the setting sun.

**...**

"Niisan…" Neji, who had been standing at the edge of the clearing, surveying the rising scene, turned at the sound of that voice.

His eyes widened in mild surprise, "Hinata?"

She smiled, and walked up to stand beside him. She too turned her eyes to survey the scene before them. "I just wanted to come and say hello. I arrived only recently with the medic team led by Ino. While I know that the stakes are very high, it is good to be on a mission with all of my friends."

"Ino had no business dragging you into this," Neji cut in, looking away from her. "You are the heir of our clan, and you are not a fully trained medic. This is not a mission, but a fool's errand, and you ought to have stayed home."

Imperceptibly, Hinata's shoulders sunk. Or rather, imperceptible to all by the Byakugan eyes. …If there was a dignified way to kick oneself Neji would have done it right now. He had always been very harsh on Hinata. In their childhood, it had been because she was from the main house and he had been from a branch family. It had been a rebellion against his fate, to which he felt shackled. Naruto…had cured him of that notion. Now, however, sometimes he went to the other extreme. He would be harsh, when what he intended to be was concerned. "That being said," he continued falteringly, "I am sure that you are prepared for the task ahead."

"…I think so." Hinata answered haltingly, not meeting his eye. "Kakashi-sensei told me that it was your ingenuity that offered the solution to the problem of where to transfer the Bijuu." A smile quirked her lips. "I actually overheard him saying to Sakura that, as you are a Jounin and a Hyūga, you hardly need his validation, but that he was very impressed and pleased. He said it was like having a Nara here."

Well, if Neji hadn't felt like an ass before, he certainly did now. If he didn't know Hinata to be absolutely incapable of something so duplicitous, he would have sworn that she could be this charming and obliging on purpose.

"High praise indeed, from Konoha's own Copy Ninja," he answered curtly. An awkward silence fell upon them. Neji swallowed, "Have you seen Naruto yet?" he offered up, turning to look at her again.

Hinata flinched and looked at him with alarm, a steady blush pluming across her face. _Finally,_ Neji thought, he'd done something right. "N- n- no! Sakura-san said that he was still training in the woods. She was about to go and send him to get Sir Utakata. I- I havn't gotten the chance…" she trailed off, blinking at her cousin a thousand blinks a second.

"Well," Neji shrugged nonchalantly, "as I'm sure you'll perform your task admirably, I see no reason why you won't see him after this is all over."

Hinata's mouth parted in an open smile, "Th- thank you Neji niisan," she said. She looked back to the field, still smiling. "Ah, Ino is calling to me," she said. And, sure enough, the Yamanaka girl was waiving inexhaustibly in their general direction. "I must go. Best of luck, niisan."

"And to you," Neji called after her, smiling a little himself. Thank god, at least he'd ended that on a high note.

Darkness was truly falling now. Neji surveyed the scene as the new dome slowly rose into the air. With the darkness fell his momentary elation. It was getting cold. The night that they all dreaded so much… was coming. He wondered if this was what Utakata had felt earlier in the day... to see a part of his past rising into the skyline. No. Neji could never imagine what Utakata felt here and now. He had lost everything in the structure that had been erected on his instruction. Neji had his own battles that he had fought throughout his life. But the dome that was now being raised on his, Neji's, recommendation... it had been one such station that had saved his life.

Still... it sent chills down his spine. Everything... all of this... He almost flinched when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Almost. He turned his head slightly. "...Lee."

"...You know Neji, I have no idea what you, or Utakata for that matter, are going through right now," Lee said, his huge eyes taking in the scene before them. "However, I do know that none of us are ready for it. We are all handling it in our own way, but none of us are comfortable with what is happening. …And that is why we much do our best."

The two stood there, together, side by side, with Lee's hand clasped on Neji's shoulder. And, as they had their entire lives, they cut a strange pair at the edge of the clearing. But a pair they were. Somehow, though Neji doubted he would ever admit it, Lee had a way of steadying him with that bombastic, disconcerting nature of his. He looked to his friend, and Lee tore his eyes away from the domes and met Neji's. "That is why we must be _'stronger than we were yesterday,'" _he said, giving Neji's shoulder a final shake and repeating to him the words that he had once coined on their Gaara Rescue mission. Such a short and long time ago, all in one.

Neji smirked. "You always were an inexcusable sap."

Lee shrugged, smiling sheepishly, "It is part of the charms of youth, I suppose."

**...**

Both domes stood stark against the dying day. Sakura suppressed a shiver as the sun went down, and the air about her cooled. They looked so strangely beautiful in these few moments. Their round shapes catching the light of sun and clouds as one, like two momentary canvasses... All around the valley teams ere erecting man-size torches. Two more at the entrance of each dome. But they seemed to cast more shadows than light. It was coming. The night was coming, and there was nothing that they could do to stop it. Almost twelve hours of one of their precious days was already spent. Time wasn't waiting.

Out of the corner of her eye Sakura saw as three figures immerged from the tree-line, and stepped into the flickering torchlight. Without hesitation, she took off across the field. "Kakashi-sensei," she said, skidding to a halt by his side. "They're here."

Kakashi, whose full attention had been on the domes, looked over in the direction that Sakura indicated. There, slowly making their way toward them, Hotaru and Naruto supported Utakata on either side. And just like that the sun slipped below the horizon, and they all knew that the quiet was over. Now came the storm.

It was time.


	8. Stay With Me, Please

**Chapter 8**

**Stay With Me. Please.**

It was like stepping into a nightmare. Strange, how people could feel that they had healed, that they were better, that they had become strong. Strange… how people felt they had _scars_ from the past. The truth was there were no scars. There were only _open wounds_ which people had learned to avoid touching. …One prod, and the pain came lacing back, as if it was the day of that first wound. Only this time… with it came the disillusionment. The realization that one was not healed. Not better. Not strong.

That was what it felt like for Utakata when he stepped into that dome that Yamato had erected over the ritual site. That was the fear and horror that coursed through him when he saw, by the reddish glow of the seal that Sakura had put down upon the floor of the compound, the flickering of the sixteen trunks… all different sizes. That was the desperation with which he gripped into Hotaru's shoulder with his free hand… when he saw that platform again, clear of all its notes, with only the ironwood clamps upon it for decoration.

He felt her hand snake up his own, and looked down to her. His eyes met hers. Two clear orbs of green in a world of red. Just the way it had been when he had first met her. He smiled weakly. He could do this. He had to. It was his only chance at life. His only chance… for Hotaru.

She had told him everything in the hours they'd had together. Precious few that they were. She had told him of how she had gone to the Hidden Leaf. How they in turn had rallied in an instant to come to his aid. And how, finally, Naruto had faced down the Leader of the Akatsuki, and struck a fatal bargain. He hated it. He hated all of it. The Hidden Leaf should never have gone after him. They should have taken Hotaru in, eased her unhappiness, and then allowed her to still live a full and happy life. Now however… they were all dead men standing now.

"You ready?" Naruto said from his other side. Naruto… There was so much Utakata would have liked to ask him. He wanted nothing more than to just walk with the Hidden Leaf ninja for a while and… and catch up. That was all. When they had last parted… it had all been too perfect. Jokes, laughs, Naruto had teased him about being a master, Utakata had smirked lazily back at him, leaning as he was against the gate of Hotaru's village… It had all been too perfect. And there was so much Utakata wanted to know. How were they going to do this when even his own master, the inventor of this ritual, had failed?

Naruto noticed the pause, and gave him a little shake. "Hey, have a little faith, will ya? I didn't just make deals with the Jinchuuriki hunting Akatsuki leader just for the heck of it." How was it that, even in this reddening glow, that demented lopsided smile of his could still be so reassuring?

"Tish," Utakata looked away from him and back at the platform. ….That platform. "Faith? In you, retard?" He felt her hands tighten around him. Hold him. "Sure, why not."

…

A blond girl with a ponytail whom Hotaru hadn't seen before stepped up to them. She must have come with the medic team Hotaru had heard about. "Utakata-san," she said, "My name is Ino. I'm afraid that we're going to have to take the majority of your hair."

Utakata blinked. "My hair?"

"Yes. As you may or may not know, we're going to be trying to create a makeshift body into which to store the Bijuu after we've pulled it out of you." _After, _not _if,_ Hotaru noticed. "We've decided that, to make the process at least somewhat easier, we would try to clone your DNA as best as possible, so that at the very least the body we reinsert the Bijuu into is of a similar structure as that which it just left. And to make a full body... well, we'll need a lot of DNA samples."

Naruto shook his head, "As if this whole thing wasn't creepy enough already. Ino, you're sure this not-Utakata will be... you know... not alive?"

"Sure sure, Naruto. We won't even be attempting to grow it a proper brain."

"Wow... so it'll be a zombi-."

_"-If_ we could proceed," Yamato interrupted Naruto.

It was all she could do to let him go. She couldn't. No. That was what it came down to. When they were within a foot of the platform, when she had to let him go, he had to actually place his hand on top of hers and give it a light squeeze.

_You have to let me go now. _

…_No. I can't. _

But she had to. It was that simple. It was so simple! She unclenched her fingers. She felt the final brush of fabric as he took the last shaky step away from her. She watched him haltingly pull off the ninja turtleneck he had been given to wear, exposing his stomach where the seal would be placed… and removed. How were his hands so steady? He bent his head forward to allow the blond girl named Ino to methodically tie ten ribbons in his hair with all the expertise of a girl who had often done such things with her own hair. _Snip, snip, snip, snip. _Gone. Just like that. Utakata's hair, which had been so long, and Hotaru had admired as so silken, was gone. It now stuck out in uneven tufts from his head. She blinked at him, trying to get used to what she was seeing. She couldn't. None of it seemed real to her.

Sai took Utakata's shirt from him and carried it outside the circle of red. Then, in one jerking motion, Utakata heaved himself atop the platform without any help. She watched it all. And heard as- _Clamp. Clamp. Clamp. Clamp. _

…So simple. She heard and saw the Leaf Ninjas clasp the four iron-wood restraints on Utakata's arms and legs.

…_Somebody wake me up. _

"Alright." Hotaru blinked, and looked at Sakura, who had spoken. They were all staring at Utakata, who in turn had his eyes fixed on the roof of the dome, where the red glow did not reach. "Kakashi-sensei, Tenten, Neji, Lee, Sai, please take your positions at the rim of the circle. If the chakra in here gets a little crazy I trust you to even it out with your own supply." Kiba and Akamaru had been put on patrol duty, to keep the perimeter of the field they'd occupied unbreached. It was done to the great chagrin of both. "Capitan Yamato, I trust you keep your chakra ready for both steadying any ripples in the ritual, and in case we have any trouble with the framework." Sakura was a direct student of Tsunade in medical ninjutsu. It went without saying that Kakashi and Yamato would defer to her in this matter. In a heartbeat, everyone was in their designated positions, and the only ones left within the circle were Nartuo, Sakura, Hotaru and Utakata.

_No. Not again. I can't._

"Lady Hotaru," Sakura said her name so gently. Why did it make her flinch like that? The two girls made eye contact. Hotaru didn't make a sound. She couldn't. "Lady Hotaru, I need you to step out of the circle."

Her lips tightened. _Say something. Say something so that you won't have to leave him._ She shook her head.

Sakura sighed, and Hotaru could see that she had expected this. However, before she could say more-

"Hotaru. Move." How could her heart leap into her throat and sink into her stomach at the same time, just at the sound of his voice? How had he knows that she had shaken her head? He hadn't looked away from the ceiling. He hadn't even glanced at her. _Won't you at least look at me? I want to see your eyes! I want to see you and see that everything will be alright!_ And he hadn't asked her as a friend. No. He had ordered her as a master. She couldn't disobey her master, could she? "If this backfires again," he said, "and I live, even just until the Akatsuki catch up with me again… I will not have you die my master's death. Hotaru. I do not want you even in the dome during this ceremony."

Hotaru swallowed, and looked around her. They were all staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to move. They were pressed on time. She had to do _something._ They… they could all fall with him, but she could not.

"Relax, man," Naruto said, cracking his knuckles and stretched, almost as if he was getting ready for training rather than to do the impossible and extract a Jinchuuriki from a Bijuu. "We're not going to fail. Anyway, think about what you're saying. By leaving Hotaru outside you're just setting up that Akatuki leader guy's promise to happen. We die. You die a few days later. She lives. Think about it. It doesn't work for anyone." He turned to look at Hotaru now. "I want you to stay right by my side when all of this is happenin-"

"NO!" Utakata flinched. His mask of composure was coming off. But he still wouldn't look at her. "Captain Yamato," he said into the dark canopy of the dome. "Do you remember what it was I said to you, back at Fortress? Do you remember when I said that I would not put Hotaru in danger?! You can vouch for me now."

"It is true," the silhouette of Yamato confirmed from the sidelines.

"He's right, Naruto. She can't stay," Sakura said. "Not even counting the emotional strain it will be on both of them, her very presence could upset the balance of chakra that we'll need to keep in check for the next however many hou-"

"The only reason…" Naruto said, suddenly very careful to avoid eye contact, just like Utakata, "…The only reason that I haven't let the Kyuubi take control again since that battle against Orochimaru on the bridge, is because you are always by my side. If it wasn't for you, and for everyone else around me, I would probably have given into the power a long time ago. But I know that I cannot ever allow myself to hurt you again, the way I did back then."

The air between them was palpable. Hotaru stared from Naruto's frame to Sakura's, tinged as they were by shadow and red glow. Utakata slowly turned his head to stare at them as well. Suddenly Hotaru could see how, just as she had wanted Utakata, Sakura now wanted Naruto to look at her. Wanted to _know_…. something. She couldn't quite say what.

"…Alright. Lady Hotaru, you can stay. I want you to stand at the head of the platform."

Still without saying a word, Hotaru nodded and moved herself to stand just by Sir Utakata's face, which he turned away from her, now to stare at the dome's wall behind Tenten and Sai.

"Are you ready, Sir Utakata?" Sakura was standing next to Naruto by Utakata's side, holding the paper seal.

Utakata closed his eyes. "Do it."

In one swift movement Sakura, pulled off her black gloves, which she pocketed, and laid the seal upon his abdomen and smoothed it out so that it would stay. She stepped behind Naruto and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. "Now."

To Hotaru, it seemed to take an eon for Naruto's outstretched hands to clench, his thumbs tucked in… one finger raised. An age, and no time at all. Sakura's fingers curled on his shoulders, Naruto shut his eyes in concentration. She provided the knowledge and he the power and in the moment that fingers rammed into Utakata's belly, a blast of chakra rocketed through the room. Hotaru was nearly thrown off her feet, somewhere to the side Tenten yelped, and the woodwork all about them cracked.

…

It was all he could do not to scream. This feeling, it was so familiar. Everything… everything was too familiar! He couldn't open his eyes because he knew he would see how his stomach had become clear, like a pool of water, wherein the fingers of the sealer set off ripples through his entire body. He knew he would see his master, dyed in the red glow of the chamber, looming over him. Or had it been the other way around? Had he, Utakata, been the one bathed in red? The red of his master's blood? He convulsed. It was all too much the same!

Except… except for that. There was… a hand… a hand holding his own. Smaller, softer. And, despite his shackles, that hand had slipped into his own. Hotaru. For a moment, dread and relief were one and the same in his chest.

He loved her.

It was as plain and simple as that. He loved her entirely, and the fact that she was here, holding him, both destroyed and saved him. Utakata threw his head back and rocked against the motion of chakra through his body. How long? How long had he known that he loved her? Since the beginning. No. Not at all, actually. He had cared for her. Worried about her. But his emotions when they had first met had been so scrambled and so shattered that they could never form any such feeling so strong and binding as love.

When Naruto arrived then? When that entire ordeal of only a little over a week ago had begun? Still no. No... He knew that Hotaru had feelings for him. Knew that he had feeling for her. Yet both seemed so petty to him... so abjectly pointless... even a week ago he still told himself that he wanted nothing to do with her. The girl who had taken him in when all others were dead or wanted him so.

...It had been when The Forbidden Jutsu had detonated. When he had stayed to contain it. When he had stood at the edge of that terrible destructive power, and realized that he had no fear of it. When his own voice had resonated true within him, at his very core, _"My feelings are within her… as well as within my heart." _And he had stepped forward, and pulled her into his arms. That was when he had realized it.

That was when Utakata had realized that he was hopelessly in love with Hotaru, heiress of the Tsuchigumo Clan. Even now, the memory flooded his senses…

"_It's alright," he whispered, even as she told him to run. To escape the Jutsu inside of her that would surely kill him. _

"_Sir Utakata…" she whispered, looking up into his eyes, her whole body shaking. _

"_Believe in your Master." He pulled her into his arms completely, just as the explosion came upon them. _

And then another hand reached into the seal on his abdomen. And the terrible familiarity drowned out Hotaru. He slammed against his shackles, and wrenched a scream from his own gut in a way he feared Naruto would never be able to wrench the Bijuu.

...

Gust whipped around Ino as ritual and flesh whirled before them all. She had left the dome where they were keeping Utakata, had crossed the short distance of grass, and was now with her seven teammates in medical ninjutsu. She had to trust that Sakura would do her job and not get them all killed by releasing a rampant Bijuu on the world. Now she, Yamanaka Ino, would do _her_ job.

Without delay she had called everyone to their places, and they had begun.

Neji's surgery had taken three and a half hours. There had been four medics at the scene at all times, and each time one became exhausted, he would have a replacement exchange places with him. Three and a half hours. And that had been a patch in his chest. They had to create an entire body in one night. They did not have the luxury of switching in and out. This was going to take all eight nins working at once.

Ino and three of her team each sat on one point of the four-pointed star which Captain Yamato had etched into the wood with his Wood Release Technique. The other four nins sat directly behind them. This would increase potency, charka amount and, the Will of Fire willing, speed. Ino had placed five of Utakata's clumps of hair in the places where the extremities of a human body should be: hands, feet and head. She had placed one where the heart would be. Two for the lungs. One for the stomach and other organs. And one for the genitalia.

Ino stared at those clumps of black, now quivering in the breeze, as they lay stark against the now green-chakra powered seal on the floor, and swallowed. She had never worked without a body in the center of that seal. She had no idea if this would work. For all she knew, they were all done for. She swallowed again, harder. She had to _believe_ that this would work. The wind wiped her ponytail about her and cracked her clothing against her body.

"Hinata, I need your precision chakra!"

"Right!" Though Ino couldn't see Hinata sitting directly behind her, she knew that she was putting her Byakugan eyes to their full use. Suddenly, Ino felt her hair raise like static, about her, and chakra of the clearest and most honed nature course through her. "Wahooo!" she yelped, throwing professionalism to the wind as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.

"Hinata, you are something else!"

There was a twitch, a quiver, and the strands of hair tore to life, pulling at themselves and at each other like they were some mad, possessed spider.

"We're using the boy's own hair as a conductor, so focus on that. Try to accelerate the growth rate of the cells yet to be created!" Shizune, Tsunade's aide, had once used words similar to those to describe the process. Ino now yelled them over the howling wind to steady her teammates. She smirked past the beads of sweat pooling down the side of her face and the moist palms that she had clamped together as strongly as she could, even as her elbows shook violently. Now there was no turning back.

Now... they had to turn flesh into body.

...

"The chakra is getting out of control! Naruto, you have to suppress it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Try _harder!"_

The room was sweltering hot, and it was impossible to say if they'd been there for minutes or hours or days. Time didn't move except in the rivers of sweat and heavy breathing palpitating off the walls. She couldn't see those standing at the perimeter of the seal. They were red shadows against a black abyss. Sakura's hair looked red in this light, colored with the light and darkened with the sweat that clung it to her face. Naruto, standing before her, their bodies moving as one, had sprouted a thick layer of chakra which even Hotaru could sense was poisonous, beyond which Sakura stood by a hair's breadth. It had seeped upon him from within the seal on Utakata some moments after he had placed his second sealed hand onto Utakata's belly.

So far it had gone so well. Naruto, with his intuitive understanding of the Jinchuuriki, had made it one step further than Utakata's master, Harusame. He had paralyzed the beast.

Now, however, for all the little that Hotaru knew about advanced jutsus, she could tell things were going badly. Three different chakras were swirling around Naruto. His own, that of his Bijuu, the Nine Tails, and Utakata's, the Six Tails. They were burning the air around him.

"Naruto," Sakura hissed through clenched teeth, taking a step back from him as the chakra swelled. "You've got to get that chakra under control! I can't get in close enough to mold it for you _if you can't get it under-"_

"I'm _trying!"_ Naruto's hands were shaking.

"You're going to kill him!" Sakura's eyes were tearing as she tried to press her bare hands against the tangible boiling chakra on his back.

"I'm doing what I can with precision chakra from my work with Rasengan. It should keep the damage down. But I can't control his chakra if he keeps doing-" Utakata wretched against his bonds, jolting Naruto's hands with him, sending a new wave of chakra into Naruto that he simply wasn't ready to receive, _"THAT!_ If he keeps thrashing around like that-" Naruto grit his teeth, the sweat coming down in sheets down his neck. His eyes had turned crimson red, his pupils had turned to slits, and those three light scars on either of his cheeks had swelled and multiplied, until they resembled more whiskers than scars.

Hotaru didn't know what to do. _She didn't know what to do!_ Utakata let out a retching cry, arched his head back, threw his head, and his eyes locked with Hotaru's. His eyes… they were not the gentle brown that she was so used to. They were an acid yellow. Hotaru's mouth went very dry. Up till now she'd known what he was. She had been told. Had come on this mission. Had even seen the proof of it in the charka that Naruto was now trying so desperately to absorb. But this was the first time she'd ever seen it on him. On Sir Utakata.

His lips parted, he tried to suck in air, and his body convulsed. Naruto swore. Sakura cried out. _"He's going to die!"_ Utakata… _her_ Sir Utakata… was going to die. They had failed. They had all failed.

….No. No. _No!_ She pulled her hand out of his, and took his head in her hands. "Sir Utakata!" her voice cracked. His hair was cropped and uneven as she wracked her fingers through it. But it was still so soft. His eyes pressed into focus, and blinked at her. She leaned in closer towards him. She had to make him stop. Somehow, she had to save him. "…Sir Utakata!" What could she say? What could she possibly say? There was only one thing to say. Only one thing she really wanted. Had really ever wanted. "…come back… _come back to me…"_ The whole world seemed to melt away from around her. There was only her, the tears that never seemed to stop pooling out of her, and those almost inhuman yellow eyes.

She stroked the side of his head, gently, tenderly. "Don't leave me again. Don't abandon me again." She closed her eyes, and squeezed the rest of the tears out of them, then opened them the clearer. "…You think I didn't realize when I woke up that night in that field of yellow flowers… when it was so dark, and I had slept so much longer than I should have…" It was just the two of them now. No one else. They were more alone now than they had even been in that cabin, waiting for sunset. Hotaru exhaled shakily, and leaned in further still and pushed her cheek against his ear, and whispered, "You think I didn't realize that you had used genjutsu?" She met his eyes again. Willed his recognition. "I thought I had been dreaming at first. I thought I must have been dreaming when I recalled falling into that field… somehow not getting back up… and a bubble landing so perfectly in the palm of my hand." Her voice was choking. She needed to keep it from choking. He needed to know this. She needed to tell him. "And so many more of them cascading down around me." She shook her head, smiling through the tears dripping down and along her lips. "You'd laced them, hadn't you?" She caressed the side of his face lovingly. Intimately. As she had always wanted to. "You'd laced every single one of them… to make certain that I would not realize too soon that you were gone… and try to go after you. _But that's not all, is it?" _She ran her fingers through that cropped hair, willing his attention to remain on her words and not on Naruto's fingers as they tried to claw the Bijuu out.

"…You also laced them with your last words." She paused, and pressed her lips together. Recomposing. How she had tried not to think of that moment for the last three days and nights. Now, however, she did. " …_Hotaru, you must live.'_ That was it, wasn't it? Those were the last words that you wanted to give me. Those were the last words that you laced into my mind with that last genjutsu."

Her fingers coursed across his scalp again, and again she brought her own face to a hair's breadth from his. "Well I found you! I found you despite yourself! I am not letting you go! And I fought, and struggled, and pushed on every day from that day to this one with only one intention! One thing that kept me going through all of it!" the tears were splashing out of her eyes now. So many tears. Like bubbles. _"To tell you… one thing…"_ she swallowed, their eyes locked. _"Sir Utakata… we must both live."_

Hotaru brought her face down to his, and kissed him.

Utakata's body froze, then clenched, and then, very slowly, eased back against the ironwood platform. Naruto exhaled and, as he did, the chakra around him seemed to ease, part, and subside. His forehead still creased in concentration, he seemed to be suppressing his own charkas and only allowing for Utakata's to layer over him. Sakura, seeing the wane of energy around him, immediately stepped back into place and returned her hands squarely onto his shoulders, wincing as she did at the chakra that did still remain there. Naruto swallowed, and again moved his hands in motion.

Hotaru raised herself back up a fraction, and met Utakata's eyes. They were half lidded, and still yellow, but he was there, his lips parted just slightly. She could see he was there. She smiled weakly, and placed one of her hands in his, still keeping the other at the side of his face, running her fingers through the sweat ridden hair.

There was silence in the dome, and the Bijuu's chakra pulsed around Naruto as Sakura directed his movements with a surgeon's accuracy. The extraction Harusame had invented…seemed to be working. Time passed. Hotaru stayed as she was, cradling Utakata in her arms, mouthing to him in the silence, _'we must both live…we must both live..._' And he, in turn, remained still, his breathing steady, his eyes fixed on her as though she was the only creature in this life or the next.

…

Time passed. Naruto felt his limbs burning. The Kyuubi … it had almost taken over earlier. Naruto didn't know if he had intended to take this opportunity to wrench free from his body, or if it had all been to screw with him and his beliefs. But when he'd felt the Kyuubi's chakra on top of that which he was already trying to control by Sakura and contain from Utakata… he'd almost lost it. He had really almost lost it. If not for Hotaru… but she'd calmed him down like nothing else. It was as if she'd hit an off switch inside of him, and all his fear and panic melted away right from underneath Naruto's fingertips. If the situation was not so dire, Naruto might have taken a moment to throw out an 'I told you so.' However, the situation was that dire. In fact… for all the good that Hotaru had done… he didn't know how long he could contain all of this chakra before he had to spill it over elsewhere. He only knew that he had to… _had to _contain it.

"We're going to need the body soon," Sakura said into the silence, voicing what Naruto would not. "Captain Yamato, please send one of your wood clones to the other dome." Beyond Naruto's line of sight, he heard the cracking of wood as Yamato created a messenger. "Naruto," Sakura said, "how are you holding up?"

Naruto swallowed, and found his mouth was dry as dust. "Eheh, never been better, Sakura-chan. I'm doing just fine." It was a lie. And he knew that Sakura knew it was a lie. Despite her carful control of his movements and the flow of his chakra, even she couldn't entirely keep his hands from shaking from the sheer raw power and exhaustion coursing through them. They needed to get this done.

Sakura have his shoulder a little squeeze. "Just hold out a little longer," she whispered.

Tish. Of course he couldn't lie to her. He had never been able to properly lie to her. "No worries Sakura-chan. I told you…" he swallowed, "I've got this." He couldn't close his eyes. If he closed his eyes he felt that he'd succumb to the colossal energy rippling around him. The fact that Utakata's master had even been able to think up a technique like this… what a crazy, amazing man. It was no wonder Utakata had been so mortified at the idea that he'd tried to kill him, his student. Utakata must have held such respect for him before that moment. Naruto directed his thoughts to his own master, the Pervy Sage. He had to remember the Ninja Way that he'd passed on to him: _to never give up! _Naruto gritted his teeth. When he told the Pervy Sage this story… he wanted it to be one his master could be proud of!

…His head spun.

Running footsteps. Yamato's clone was back. "They're almost ready! Just a few more minutes!"

"Captain Yamato, you tell them to move their asses and get that vessel in here right now! We are out of time!" Sakura barked.

"Y-yes Sakura!"

"Hold on Naruto," she whispered again, clutching his shoulder now.

"Any day now would be a-okay with me, Sakura-chan," he rasped. He could clearly see his fingers through the ripples of Utakata's water-like stomach. …And the tips of them had started to bleed and pool ten little red droplets therein.

"We're here!"

Naruto couldn't tear himself away from what he was doing, but he recognized Ino's voice. Though it was becoming muffled. Utakata trembled underneath his touch.

"Hotaru, keep him steady!"

"Ino, get that body over here! Kakashi-sensei, please perform the Eight Trigrams Sealing summons, _now."_ Sakura's voice was going in and out of focus. Naruto left like his skin was boiling.

"_I told you it would be too much for you,"_ the Kyuubi's voice echoed from within him.

"Shut up…" he murmured, "Shut the hell up…"

"Naruto! Naruto, can you hear me!? Naruto, now!"

With a jolt that was entirely made of his strength of will, for the strength of his body had probably failed him some ten minutes before, Naruto forced himself into action. He pulled his hands from the seal on Utakata's body and, carrying the weight of not one, but two Bijuus upon him, he turned on his feet. As he ripped that power from body into air he could not even distinguish where Utakata's scream ended and the Six-Tail's roar began. Both in that moment blended together. And both were entirely inhuman. There, where Sakura had stood mere moments before, Kakashi had summoned the traditional cushion on which a body had been laid. There, about the body, were the traditional candles, lost in the red sea of the ritual. Naruto noticed none of it. He forced his hands into the air, and then brought them down on the new body's exposed stomach.

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS SEAL!"

The world seemed to explode at his fingertips. He flew backwards. The dome snapped and clapped with a defining roar. Naruto braced himself for the terrible collision- and was caught in someone's arms.

"I've got you," Sakura whispered urgently. "I've got you!" he heard as he lulled into darkness. "Stay with us _…NARUTO!"_


End file.
